twenty twenty
by zeldris
Summary: They say hindsight is 20/20. Three times Juvia Lockser encountered her ex-boyfriend, Gray Fullbuster.
1. same old mistakes

**20/20**

**Chapter 1: Same Old Mistakes**

**chapter summary: two years after graduation, Juvia and her friends go to a local club and run into some familiar faces.**

**a/n: yeah. this is a companion piece to heads or tails. sort of a futurefic i guess. you dont have to read h/t to read this story, but it might give you some context. to be honest i was a little bit wine drunk when i wrote this. dont look at me im a mess.**

**i thought the title was cute bc of the whole hindsight 20/20 thing, and the fact that im writing this going into 20/20. hahaha. kinda. enjoy anyway.**

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"I'm _drunk_."

"I _know_." Jenny responded, before handing me another tequila shot. "Remember, salt _first_."

I nodded. "Then lime?" I asked hazily as Jenny poured some salt on my open palm.

"Then _shot, _dumbass." Minerva appeared from behind me. I didn't know how she managed to remain sharp as a tack even while inebriated.

Drunk me thought what she said was really funny, so I laughed out loud. She rolled her eyes and assisted me by holding out a slice of lime for me to suck on after I took the cheap shot of Jose Cuervo.

I breathed out, before ducking down to lick the salt off my hand. Jenny handed me the shot and I downed it, the sour taste overwhelming me, before Minerva popped the slice of lime in my mouth like a pacifier.

I made a few humming sounds of approval while Jenny mimicked my actions, downing what must've been her fifth shot of the night. I myself was on shot number six, which was pretty typical for me on a night like this one.

It was Minerva's idea, surprisingly enough, that we would celebrate the end of our semester at a club twenty minutes from campus, to avoid being recognized by anyone in the clubs closer to where we lived. None of us were 21 yet, but Jenny was almost there. It didn't really matter though, nobody asked for ID when women like Jenny and Minerva walked up to the bar. And I, their honorary ugly friend, managed to reap the benefits of their beauty.

Most of our shots that night had been purchased by sweaty dumbasses looking to score, and we wouldn't complain, because free alcohol was free alcohol.

Seven shots was my limit for the night. Anything past that and I'd be throwing up my own body weight until the sun came up. I'd learned a lot in my first two years of college, and one of those things was that nobody liked a drunk girl throwing up in the campus showers.

We all lived off campus now, but it was still a lot more fun for us to linger just on the edge of completely shit-faced and completely _gone_, so we settled by enforcing shot limits on each other. Mine was 7 standard drinks, probably thanks to my muscle tone, Minerva was 8 standard drinks, and Jenny was 5 standard drinks. Jenny had just hit her limit, so it fell to me and Minerva to keep her from drinking anymore, at least for the next hour. Mostly Minerva. My vision was starting to double, which meant it was time for me to start embarrassing myself.

That was the best part about out-of-town clubbing. No one who recognized you was there, except for my friends, obviously. But they didn't count, since I embarrassed myself on a daily basis in front of them anyways.

I felt some guy grab my ass and I whirled around to give them a slap, but I must've spun to slow, because no one was there. Or. Maybe I spun too fast. My brain started to rock inside my head, and I watched the bar tilt on its side.

"Minerva," I slurred, grabbing my friend's wrists. She looked so pretty in black. She had the most severe eyes I'd ever seen, and she was a total viper when it came to verbal combat. Her jade eyes narrowed at me. "Dance with me."

"Fuck off, alcy." She accused, as if she wasn't buzzed too. She reminded me a bit of Erza, both women had a staunch no-nonsense attitude when it came to school, but could party with the rest of us idiots when she needed to.

"Ow, Jenny, she's being mean." I whined, and my friend, who at this point could barely see, laughed out loud.

"I'll dance with you Juvia!" She declared, grabbing my forearm and swinging me to the dance floor of the club. Minerva stayed behind, sipping on a strawberry margarita, making sure we stayed out of trouble.

Jenny always wore lavender when we went partying. She was a truly spectacular specimen, and she had paid her college tuition off by doing a bit of modeling on the side. She was the queen of sponsored instagram posts, and if she wasn't in nursing school with me, I'd encourage her to pursue the world of fashion, where she would fit in perfectly. Jenny was the kind of beautiful that made people stop and stare, like Lisanna's older sister, Mirajane. Being friends with Jenny had its perks, namely, a bunch of free expensive clothes that she got through sponsorships. I myself was wearing one of her more simple numbers, a halter-top red dress with a criss-cross pattern that went all the way down my spine and to the small of my back.

We also got a shit ton of free drinks through her. Truly, Jenny had the generosity of a saint. And the body of an overtly sexualized female videogame character. Seriously. Clothing stuck to her like she had been liquefied and then poured into it.

We danced together on the floor, barely cognizant of our own movements. I was pretty sure a couple of guys started to grind on us, but we barely noticed because we were too busy shrieking the lyrics of _Candy Shop _by 50 Cent at each other.

Clubs were gross. The only reason we kept going to them was because of the free drinks, but the drinks technically did come at a price. And that price was an awful lot of leering and grabbing.

Men were trash.

Jenny was trying to say something to me, but I couldn't hear her over the thumping music and thrum of human conversation. Frustrated that I wasn't understanding, she pulled me out of the crowd and back to the bar where Minerva was waiting for us. She was now sipping on an appletini.

"I _said_," Jenny began, holding me by the shoulders so I could focus on what she was saying. "A group of _reaaalllyy _sexy guys just walked in! Wanna go fishing?" She asked, her words meshing together occasionally so it sounded like she was speaking in cursive. I didn't have anything to lose. Flirting with guys with Jenny was a lot of fun, because I knew they were interested in Jenny and not me, but usually I could get some free stuff out of it. It was also pretty funny to see people literally _fall _over Jenny. Whoever said pretty privilege didn't exist was an idiot.

I let Jenny drag me towards the front of the club, and the people around me seemed to blend together like a kaleidoscope. Minerva tagged along with us, probably to make sure the guys weren't shady. Last time we did a group flirt, one of the guys asked us if we'd ever tried heroin, so we had to bolt.

Minerva rarely joined in though, probably because she thought men were disgusting pigs. She was right, of course, but Minerva was blessed with the ability to not be attracted to men. Jenny and I would join her pretty frequently at the local gay clubs to try and be wing women, but for the most part we were just drunken idiots. Minerva still put up with us though, for reasons undisclosed.

When Jenny stopped pulling me, my eyes could barely focus. I tried to zoom in on the area she kept pointing to, but my brain was too busy playing a game of spin the bottle.

Fuck. I was drunker than I thought.

Jenny was decently drunk too, based on the way her eyelids drooped and she kept rolling her head back and looking at the ceiling. Her movements held a certain sway, like her balance had been compromised. I probably looked similar, but I didn't really care. Minerva barely looked buzzed, even though she was on her third mixy of the night. A cosmopolitan, funny enough.

"Oh my _god_," Jenny groaned in my ear. I turned to her sluggishly and she was fanning herself. "That guy is _so _fine." Her voice echoed.

I blinked, my brain taking a minute to buffer. Who was she talking about?

I followed her sightline to a really tall guy with blonde hair. Totally Jenny's type. He was definitely attractive, and his entourage wasn't bad either. If only I weren't so fond of guys with dark hair.

"Will you wingwoman for me?" Jenny pouted, her arm snaking around my shoulders as she pressed a kiss to my shoulder, leaving a bright pink lip gloss mark.

Jenny didn't need a wing woman. Jenny didn't need _any _help picking up guys. I thought she was just humoring me, or maybe she felt safer when she approached guys with at least one friend.

"Oooh, he's cute too." Jenny remarked, her train of thought taking a short detour. I turned to see what she was looking at.

Oh. Fuck.

I must've been hallucinating. I blinked about forty times in three seconds.

Because _huh_?

I turned to Minerva, a look of utter petrification on my face. Minerva cocked a perfectly sculpted eyebrow and I gestured my head to the guy Jenny was drooling over.

Minerva sipped her drink and laughed. Minerva didn't laugh very often, even Jenny turned to look at her in disbelief.

"_That's _Gray Fulluster." Minerva said, voicing what I would've said myself if I wasn't so damn _sunk_.

"What?!" Jenny shrieked, losing her volume control. "_That's _him? That's your ex?"

I looked at the floor, at my feet. Wow. Those were attached to my legs. I was really tall.

Fuck. I was _so _shitfaced.

"I…" I began to say, before I shut my mouth with no intention of opening it ever again.

Minerva laughed again. "Of course it's him, Jen. You'd recognize him if you weren't sloshed right now."

She definitely would've. Minerva thought it was hilarious that I was still hung up on him, and I practically showed off his instagram photos every other day. Minerva knew exactly what Gray looked like.

I could barely absorb the details of what he looked like. He was talking with the group of guys that Jenny thought were cute, namely the tall, blond and handsome one. Fuck. We weren't that far from Bloomington University, the more I thought about it. I was an idiot. A drunken fool. An absolute buffoon.

If there was anything I knew, in that moment, it was that I could _not _face him.

"Oh fuck...what do we do?" Jenny asked me, her eyes wide and her teeth nibbling on her lip.

"Watch Juvia embarrass herself?" Minerva suggested. If I wasn't drunk I would've verbally torn her a new one.

"I'm fucked." I mumbled, my grip on Minerva faltering as I teetered forward. Minerva steadied me, but not without spilling some of her drink on the floor.

"You _aren't_," Jenny chimed in, her shaky hands diving into my hair and teasing it. "You look hot! He's going to be _so _jealous!"

"Jealous of who?" I asked, but before I could get a straight answer, Jenny spun me around and grabbed my hand, raising it high in the air.

"Of _us, _silly." She laughed, and she began to dance like no one was watching. Only, everyone was watching. I realized what Jenny meant, then. She was abandoning her pursuit of the cute boy to dance on me in my time of need.

Female friends were truly sent from god.

Minerva skillfully maneuvered herself to block Jenny and I from the view of the front of the club, so we could dance like assholes in peace.

Almost instantly, Gray started to dissolve from my mind. Maybe that was the alcohol. Oh well.

When _No Hands _by Waka Flocka started playing, Jenny about lost her shit. Probably because Jenny and I spent the better part of freshmen year singing that song to each other on top of tables.

Yeah. College was wild.

Even Minerva indulged us by tamely dancing to the beat. I felt my anxieties wash away and I just let myself live in the moment, feel the music and the sweat off Jenny's arms, which were draped across my neck. I felt the tequila buzz in the back of my mind, making everything just a little bit more faded, like the world was covered in a sepia filter and I was just a really mellow photographer. I mouthed the words to the song even though I didn't remember them, I relied entirely on my muscle memory, and just let the song take me somewhere completely different.

We could've been dancing for hours. Or maybe minutes. It was hard to tell with all the hard liquor kicking me in the central nervous system.

Or...maybe the bladder. Fuck, I had to pee.

I pulled on Minerva's velvet dress and whispered in her ear that I was going to the bathroom. She nodded, and allowed me to slip through the crowd and get to the bathroom safely. Minerva would keep an eye on Jenny because she seemed like she was a lot further gone than I was.

I stumbled into the bathroom, wishing I hadn't worn kitten heels. My stupid ass thought I could handle them because they had hardly any height to them, and here I was, proving myself dead wrong. I glanced at myself in the bathroom mirror. My reflection shot me a half-lidded sultry look, like I was either going to have sex with myself, or just fall asleep on the floor. Probably the latter.

I slipped past the girls who were touching up their makeup so I could relieve myself. I forgot how much tequila owned my bladder. I had broken the seal earlier that night, and it had caught up to me again.

When I got out of the bathroom to wash my hands, the girl next to me caught my eye. She was totally stunning. She had deep chestnut hair, and dark, mahogany eyes. My hands were still under the faucet as I absent-mindedly rubbed them with soap. I was still staring at the girl. She looked like she was pretty drunk, judging by the way her hips kept hitting the countertop every time she moved forward to adjust her hair in the mirror.

I kept staring. I wish I looked like her. That hair color was my favorite. She had on a two piece turquoise dress that showed off her tan skin and fit body. Minerva would totally love her.

The girl turned to look at me. My hands were still frozen under the sink water, but the soap had long since disappeared.

"Can I help you?" She asked. Her words bumped into each other, indicating that she was definitely as drunk as I was.

"You're so pretty." I said loudly. "Can I touch your hair?"

She grinned, slowly. "Sure."

My hands rested on top of her head. Her hair was totally silky.

"Your hands are cold," She observed. "And wet."

"Oops." Drunk Juvia pulled her hands out of the beautiful girl's hair and stumbled backwards.

"You're pretty too." The girl told me, and she tilted her head to the side. "Are you gay?"

"No. I wish." I heard myself say. God fucking _dammit_. Was I a fucking idiot? "My friend is gay though. You should meet her!"

The girl regarded me before smiling again. "Sure."

I smiled in return. I loved drunk girls in club bathrooms. "I'm Juvia."

"Cana." The girl introduced herself, shaking my wrist in a greeting.

"I'm drunk." I said, without thinking. She laughed.

"Me too." She said, a pensive look crossing her face. "You look familiar. Do you go to Bloomington?"

"_Fuck_ no." I replied. Cana's arm was linked with mine as we exited the bathroom. I didn't question it, that was just how drunken female friendship worked.

"I've seen you before," she insisted. We stood outside the bathroom for a minute, mostly because I had forgotten where Minerva and Jenny was. What was I doing again?

Cana looked at me confusedly. "Where are we going?"

"I...forgot." I murmured to her, and then we both laughed. That was really funny to us for some reason.

"Oh fuck," Cana said suddenly. "Here comes my date."

I had been leaning my head against Cana's shoulder, and I struggled to lift myself up again to see what Cana was talking about.

"Fuck's sake, Cana. We've been here ten minutes, and you already-"

My head lolled to the side and my eyes widened.

Of fucking _course_.

Age had treated Gray extremely well. He was wearing a dark colored v-neck and dark jeans, because apparently he didn't own any clothing that wasn't totally neutral. Not that I was complaining. He had on a silver cross necklace, like he was motherfucking Kim Taehyung. He had definitely gotten taller, too. As if he needed to be any taller.

Fuck. I was way too drunk right now to play it cool.

So instead I opted to just stare at him dumbly. I lifted my head off of Cana's shoulder and felt the whole world tip on its axis, with Gray at the dead center.

"Juvia?" He asked suddenly, and for some reason, his voice was totally out of sync with his mouth movements. Oh right. Because I was drunk.

Instead of saying something remotely intelligent, I just mumbled the word "you."

"You know her?" Cana asked. Her voice sounded far away. I shut my eyes tight and opened them again, hoping I could will Gray out of the stupid club with my mind.

"Yes." Gray said, concern edging into his voice. "She doesn't look good. Give her to me, and go to the bar and grab some water."

I wanted to tell him that I was fine, that it was _him _who was making me look like I had scarlet fever, but no words came out.

Cana looked at me, unsure, before shifting my weight to Gray. Fuck. I had really been leaning on her. Gray carefully moved my arm up and over his shoulder so he could lean me against his side, his other arm wound around my waist to hold me in like a seatbelt.

"Oh," I mumbled, from the harsh movement. "I'm-"

"_Drunk_." Gray finished for me, looking down at me with an annoying half-smile.

I frowned. "No." I denied. "I was gonna say _tired_."

I don't know why I bothered lying to him. It wasn't like he hadn't seen me drunk before.

"Uh-huh." He agreed lightly. "You smell like tequila."

"No!" I disagreed again, squirming against his grip. He was relentless, tightening his hold on me. "I smell like Jenny's perfume."

His eyebrows crinkled. "Who's Jenny?"

"My _friend_." I emphasized. I couldn't believe I was talking to Gray. This was _so _not how I wanted our first college reunion to go. I was picturing something more along the lines of _any _period drama. Instead I was smack dab in the middle of a motherfucking Adam Sandler movie. Fuck!

"Are they here?" Gray asked me, maintaining uncomfortably long eye contact with me. Why did he have such pretty eyelashes? I would kill for lashes like those. He looked like a doll.

I didn't even notice my hand cupping his jaw until he was staring at me, wide-eyed. My finger reached up to touch his eyelashes, a stupid smile on my face as I did so. I'd seen girls with extensions that didn't even come _close _to Gray's length. He was so damn pretty.

Gray said nothing while I invaded his personal space, he just stared at my hands like I was holding a gun.

"Here's your water." Cana interrupted the weirdly intimate moment by shoving a glass in my face. In her other hand was a perfectly concocted mojito, which she was greedily sipping.

Gray yanked the water out of her hand and shot her a dirty look. "I think you've had enough." He said to her. She only shrugged.

"Gotta keep the buzz going, iceman." She sang, her shoulders rolling to the music coming from the dance floor. "So, what's the story here?" She asked, mildly invested in our business as Gray tried to coax me into drinking the water.

I slapped his hand away, not in the mood to be babied by him. "Give me that." I demanded.

He obeyed, but he looked reluctant. He turned to Cana to respond.

"None of your business, Alberona." He growled as I drank the shitty tap water. Fuck. I had been really thirsty.

"Wait…" Cana looked at the both of us, Gray's arm still strapped to my waist and my arm still around his shoulders. "Is she your girlfriend?"

Gray glared at her, and before he could respond, I interceded.

"Ex." I clarified. "Give me some of that." I reached for Cana's mojito and she obliged.

Gray intercepted before I could tilt the drink into my mouth.

"Absolutely not." He enunciated, pulling the drink away from my face like it had been poisoned.

"I knew I recognized you." Cana told me before I could fight Gray for the mojito. "From his photos."

Gray and I froze, staring at Cana like she'd sprouted wings. She stared back, unaware she'd breached a subject neither Gray nor I were prepared to discuss.

"Touchy." She remarked after several beats of silence. I'd say. She reached for her mixed drink from Gray and went back to drinking casually. "I think I'll let you two catch up. Don't wait up."

Cana departed back to the bar rail, and Gray let out a sigh of frustration. "I'm supposed to be babysitting her tonight."

"By all means then," I replied, trying to untangle myself from him. I suddenly remembered that being around Gray Fullbuster was painful for me, and I needed to escape. As soon as possible. I'd finished the water, and now I needed to get back to Jenny and Minerva, who were probably worried about me by now.

"Not so fast," he responded to my act of rebellion by picking me up by the waist and setting me into one of the high-top chairs in the back corner of the club. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"You mean besides drinking and dancing? I'm not sure you understand what clubs are, Gray." I mumbled, surprised by the quality of my own drunken comebacks. My words came out slowly, but they came out legibly, at least.

He rolled his eyes. "I mean _this _club." he stated, before adding, "do you even have a fake?"

I shook my head. "I'm a 20 year old woman, Gray. I don't need a fake ID."

"Fair enough." He conceded, holding me steady in the chair so I didn't fall on my face.

"I'm not drunk enough for this." I decided, suddenly eager to escape his arm prison.

"Drunk enough for _what_?" He inquired, one hand resting on my thighs to keep my from getting off of the chair.

"For _this_. Us. I need a vodka tonic." I whined, pushing half-heartedly against his arm, which he was using as a lap bar.

"Don't be stupid." He said. "You don't need to be drunk to talk to me." He sounded a little annoyed, there. Oops.

"Yes I do." I argued. He glared at me. So he _was _mad. I was too drunk to care.

"Don't be childish." He growled. I felt very rebellious, then.

"I'll be whatever I want." I told him, getting a little bit too close to his face. "You're not my boyfriend, Gray."

I crossed the line. His eyes narrowed, and his arm yanked away from my lap. I pitched forward a bit, before steadying myself and jumping off of the chair. My balance was a little wonky, but I managed to hold my ground as I confidently walked away from Gray Fullbuster and towards the crowd of people closer to the dance floor.

My confidence whittled away with every step I took. What the hell was I doing? Was I trying to sabotage what was left of my relationship with Gray?

Minerva always told me the truth came out when you were drunk. Was that really my truth? Being a drunken asshole? That was me when I was sober! Drunk Juvia was supposed to be fun!

What was more upsetting was that he was letting me leave. Huh. I must have overestimated how much he cared about me.

I hit a roadblock when a group of dancing people obscured my path to where I hoped I would find Jenny and Minerva. With virtually no way through, I opted to move closer to the bar and make my way around the throng of people. A mistake, at least when I was alone.

You see, the bar was where all the creeps hung out. And I was Bambi's mom: Alone, visibly intoxicated, and moderately attractive. Fit for the shooting.

Someone snagged my arm before I made it a foot past the crowd I was trying to avoid.

"Nice dress," A disembodied voice complimented. "Can I buy you a drink?"

The disembodied voice grew a face, and body, and suddenly he was blocking my path. I struggled to put more than two words together so I could reject him in the most hostile of manners. Why did I have to waste all my sharp remarks on Gray?

The man's hand was torn from my wrist.

"Fuck off." Gray huffed, pulling my wrist back and setting it down by my side like I was a toy. Huh. I guess he _was_ following me.

The man, who I now realized must've been pushing 30, puffed out his chest at Gray's obvious dismissal of his male pride. He set his drink down - a Corona Light - and pressed his arms to his chest. I heard Gray utter something like '_fuck's sake_' as he realized the gravity of the situation he was facing.

"Why don't you fuck off?" The man retorted. Okay, this guy was _way _too old to be picking fights in clubs over a girl. I would've laughed at how pathetic this all was, if I wasn't distracted by the way all the sounds in the club started to echo like they were being filtered through a really long sewer tunnel.

"Beat it kid, I'm trying to have a conversation." The guy added with a smarmy look at me.

I didn't even have to look at Gray to sense his eye roll. "Are you for real? She's clearly drunk. Now move before I _make _you move."

Gray's threat lingered in the air. I probably would've found his intensity hot, but I was trying to balance my horniness, drunkenness, and anger at Gray for sticking his nose in my business, and showing up unannounced into my life when I wasn't prepared for him. I just couldn't _think _ while he was next to me, or breathe, or _function. _

"Gray, just _stop_." I heard myself say, pushing his hand off of me and pushing past the creepy guy at the bar. I was tired of men getting in my way all the time.

Before I could take another step, somebody grabbed my arm. A-_fucking_-gain. This was starting to become a really annoying trend.

"Hey, don't go, let me buy you a drink." The man said, in a way that indicated he wasn't asking, he was just politely informing.

"Don't _fucking _touch her," Gray threatened, and then my arm was free. I didn't bother to turn around, I just surged forward. I needed to find my friends and get the _fuck _out of this stupid club. This was, quite literally, my worst nightmare incarnated.

Gray's arm caught me by the waist and he lifted me up, carrying me to the side of the bar where we were safe from slimeballs and he could press me up against the railing, hard.

"Why are you doing this?" He demanded harshly. He was upset with me, clearly. "Are you trying to piss me off?"

I felt like crying. His presence was smothering me, I could barely look at him now. In that moment, a part of me that I was unfamiliar with came to light. It wanted him to hurt as badly as I was hurt. It wanted him to feel what I felt for the past two years.

"Let me go." I told him instead, hoping my double meaning would hit him. I needed him to let me go emotionally as well as physically. I couldn't take it. "Let me go, Gray."

He stared at me, like he had been hypnotized by my words. Then, he obliged.

Before he could doubt his hasty decision, I darted away from him, through the mess of people so I could look for my friends.

I could see Jenny's blonde hair in the crowd towards the front of the club. She looked like she was searching for someone, too. I reached my hand up and waved at her, trying to grapple her attention. She spotted me after a few seconds of frantic movement, and we met in the middle of the crowd, the music blasting in my ears.

"Juvia!" She yelled. I could barely hear her, but I understood that we needed to get someplace where we could talk. She pulled me towards the club's entrance, where the stampers were working and people were filing in. It wasn't silent, but it was marginally less deafening than in the middle of the pit.

"What happened?!" Jenny demanded. Minerva looked like she wanted to know the answer too. I didn't know how to respond, I just shook my head vigorously.

"We have to go!" I shouted, hoping they could understand me. I felt like I was speaking a different language. My tongue was heavy and my body felt like it had detached itself from my brain.

Minerva nodded. "I'll call an uber! You bitches better Venmo me!" She yelled.

Jenny moved to open the exit door for us, and I hesitated, only for a little bit. It was enough.

"Juvia!" Gray emerged from the crowd. He was behind me within the second. "Don't go!"

Jenny and Minerva both looked starstruck, like they were meeting a celebrity for the first time.

"Um...we'll be outside!" Jenny informed me loudly, kissing my forehead and shooting Gray a protective look. "The car will be here soon, so make it quick!"

The minute Jenny disappeared, Gray seized me. "You can't leave now!"

I looked at him dumbly. "Why not?!" It was frustrating that we had to yell everything we were saying to be heard over the crowds of people.

Gray looked frustrated, too. He pulled me by the shoulder out the door Jenny and Minerva had exited through, and the bitter night air hit my bare legs and arms like a train.

It was quiet outside. We were standing in the side alleyway, and Jenny and Minerva must've been waiting at the front of the club for our Uber. The only noises to be heard were the quiet voices of the people waiting to enter the club, and the soft, rhythmic beat of the music inside.

"You can't leave," Gray repeated. "Not now."

"I have to." I retorted, daring him to give me a good reason why I needed to stay.

"Why?" He asked, his voice cracking, "why now?"

"_Because_," I answered, hating that he was going to make me say it. "I can't be around you. Not anymore."

He looked heartbroken. "What do you mean?"

I was crying. Fuck. I was such an emotional drunk. No wonder I couldn't keep myself together.

In between breaths, I found my response. "I can't look at you. Not now." I proved my point by tearing my gaze away from him, so I could sob without having to remember he was watching me break down. In a fucking alley, no less.

Before he could say anything else, I decided to add a pretty important detail.

"I read your letter."

I wasn't courageous enough to see his reaction to my declaration, I just listened to the sound of his ragged breathing.

Gray's letter had been a gift to me on the day I left for college. The last time I had seen him in person. He had instructed me not to open it until I really needed it. Until I really needed _him_. And I had, almost five months ago. And I couldn't look at him. Not the same way.

That letter had done something completely unforgivable.

It had given me hope.

And now, seeing him here, but not being _with _him, was excruciating. I had read his letter hoping for closure, and instead, he gave me something so much crueler.

"I'm sorry." He apologized, his voice cracking slightly. "Juvia, don't cry."

I kept crying. His words seemed hollow to me, and once the floodgates opened, they couldn't be closed. I cried because i was mad at him, because I missed him, and because of _course _I was still fucking drunk.

My phone buzzed from its place in my bra. I tugged it out so I could read the screen, blurry from my sweat.

It was Minerva. Our Uber was here.

"I have to go." I said again. I lifted my watery eyes to meet Gray's and he looked like he was in pain. He didn't protest.

I slowly began my walk to the front of the club, paying special attention to my feet so I wouldn't trip over any garbage. To my surprise, Gray walked beside me. He stayed quiet, the only sound accompanying us was the occasional sniffle coming from me because surprise surprise, I was still crying.

I saw Jenny standing in front of an old blue Camaro. My ride was here.

I approached the car slowly. I turned to look at Gray, to really commit his face to my memory, which I was sure would be spotty at best in the morning. This was probably going to be the last time I would see him for avery long time.

"Juvia," he began, carefully placing his hands on my wet cheeks. "Look at me."

I obeyed, the rational part of my brain protesting all the while. I couldn't quite place the look on his face, but it was familiar to me. He exhaled as one of his thumbs stroked my cheek, before he spoke again.

"Go home." He said. "Get some sleep. And when you wake up, and you're sober, and you feel better...call me. Please, Juvia. Call me. Promise me you'll call." He begged.

I stared at him. If someone told me then and there that he'd been the one to hang the moon and the stars, I'd believe them.

"I promise."

He exhaled again, and then he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to my forehead. I knew I was sweaty and disgusting, but he lingered there anyway. He pulled away and his hands dropped to his sides.

I stepped back, testing to make sure I could still move. Jenny's arm grazed my back and she helped me get into the back of the car, my eyes flitting back to Gray every chance I got.

His dark eyes followed us until the club disappeared from my view.

I didn't remember the car ride home. Minerva stroked my hair and I laid on her lap before my consciousness lapsed. I didn't dream, either. I just let the world fade to black.

.

.

.

I woke up the next morning on my bathroom floor.

Ouch. I needed to see my chiropractor again.

My blanket was draped over me, probably by Minerva. I didn't remember getting sick last night, but I did have a pretty clear recollection of my night at the club. I wasn't really a memory-loss drunk, but I was a nausea-afflicted drunk. Fuck, I was dizzy. I must've elected to sleep on the bathroom floor last night in light of my usual bout of hangover nausea.

My headache was severe, but I'd had worse. I rested my head against the bathroom sink and let the memories from last night wash over me. It had started out so promising, and ended so dismally. In retrospect, seeing Gray again while I was inebriated was perhaps the worst combination of events to occur since the unfurling of WWI.

Well. Maybe I was exaggerating. A tiny bit.

Still. Regret consumed me almost immediately. I had said and done a lot of stupid shit I wouldn't have done if I were sober.

And yet…

In the back of my head, a nagging voice told me that I'd said what I truly _wanted _to say. That if I was sober, I would've opted for a more passive approach, and I would've hated myself even more in the aftermath.

Fuck. I was seriously fucked up by Gray Fullbuster. He was the reason I hadn't had any serious relationships in college yet. A part of me belonged to Gray, body and soul, and his letter had just made sure of the fact that those pieces of me would _always _belong to him, no matter how many times I tried to move on.

I wanted to hate him.

But I didn't.

My hands reached for my phone unconsciously, and I scrolled through my useless notifications.

I was stalling. I promised him I'd call him, when I was sober.

I was definitely sober.

My eyes shifted as I scrolled through my contacts. My thumb hovered over his name. There was still a blue heart emoji by his name that I never got to removing after we had broken up.

I selected his contact and stared at the call button. Facetiming him was completely out of the question, since I looked like the phantom of the motherfucking opera.

All I had to do was call him. We could talk. Figure things out between us. I longed to hear his voice, his laugh. The taste of him I got last night wasn't enough. I'd been starved of him for too long.

I bit my lip and clicked my nails against the bathroom floor.

All I had to do was _call _him.

My mind flickered, like a candle in the wind.

_Call him. Just do it. You promised. _

But…

I turned off my phone.

My fingers lingered atop the blackened screen, doubting my choice. Breaking a promise. I had to be _sure._

I had to move past Gray. And if I called him then and there, I never would.

I set my phone on the ground. My decision was made.

I had to move on.

* * *

**a few things:**

**1\. idk if im going to leave this up, but part of me just wanted to post it bc i dont really have anything to lose. this story is going to be more drama than comedy, bc i want it to reflect more adult themes since the characters in this story are more grown up.**

**2\. im a sucker for closure, and i thought that now that im in college, it would be interesting to write the characters from my early teens as adults. idk. its kind of a 'moving on' piece for me as well, since a lot of the things that im going to touch on in this story are similar to my experiences.**

**3\. this is a three part series. part three is already written (because i cant fucking write things in order, apparently). and i will post part two next week, and part three a week after that. thats right, no dicking around, or taking years to complete stuff.**


	2. someone you loved

**20/20**

**Chapter 2: Someone You Loved**

**chapter summary: five years after graduation, Juvia goes to Jellal and Erza's housewarming party. **

**a/n: this takes place three years after the last chapter. i know, probably not what y'all wanted to hear. tbh im a little worried as i post this bc i think i hexed myself with the last chapter. i showed up to a new years party, drunk beyond reason, and met up with my ex who i hadnt seen in a year. it got messy. tell me that isnt a freaky coincidence.**

**anyway. enjoy everyone and thank u so much for all the support. i seriously thought yall were gonna ghost me the way i deserve. ESPECIALLY U KATE. i love and miss u. we met when i was 14 years old and i am 20 now. totally wild. thank u for being such a good influence and friend for so many years. much love. **

* * *

"What do you think Juvia?"

I looked at my dad's forearm, then back at his inquisitive face. I wanted to slap him for even asking me to do this.

"Dad, I'm a nurse, not a dermatologist." I told him for what felt like the billionth time. "And I'm pretty sure that's just chocolate sauce."

My dad flipped his arm around to inspect what he had insisted was a melanoma. His tongue darted out to taste it. Just as I thought, it disappeared.

"Wow Juvia, you really are smart." My dad gushed. I sighed. No matter how many times I could correct him on what was in the scope of my field of practice, he always insisted on making me out to be some kind of heavenly healing goddess. I had only been a registered nurse for a little under a year, but he was as proud as he'd ever been.

My mom walked in, gossiping about one of her friends on Facebook making a shady post about her. My parents had been on a bit of a tirade lately, brandishing their semi-successful daughter to their apathetic audience like their lives depended on it. I would've been embarrassed, if it wasn't so goddamned endearing.

I visited fairly sporadically. I would only stay a day or two when I did, despite only living about an hour away from home. I was working at East Regions hospital, having earned a position in the coveted pediatric oncology unit, which had been my dream since before graduation.

I didn't have the heart to tell them that my visits were going to occur less often in the coming years. I'd recently attended an interview at St. Hiyashi's Memorial Hospital all the way in Crocus, about three hours away from home. The interview had gone spectacularly. I was scheduled to start my position in the emergency department there in 6 months, after I finished my allotted time at Regions.

I told them work was going fantastic. What I didn't tell them was that last week I had lost my favorite patient. I had only found out due to a very thoughtful letter sent out by the patient's parents to each of their daughter's care providers, thanking them for everything they'd done.

She was only seven. What they didn't tell you when you became a nurse was how even when things were going well, they could go very, very wrong. It hadn't been fair, not in the slightest. She had been recovering. She was stable. And then she wasn't.

Pediatric oncology had taken its toll on me. That was why I elected to reach out to St. Hiyashi's, and move to the capitol and work in their trauma center.

Another, significantly less meaningful reason for my move was the messy breakup with my most recent boyfriend. I would be neglecting to mention that to my mother however, due to the fact that I'd neglected to tell her I had a boyfriend in the first place. Whatever. I was here for the free food and conversation.

I smiled at my mom as she poured me a glass of her favorite Chardonnay. I hated wine, but I drank it anyway because my mom liked to watch me do grown up things.

"You know, everybody wanted us to fail." My mom said, sipping on her white wine animatedly. "They _all _thought that just because we were young, and dumb, we were going to raise a failure."

My dad grinned at her. "Who's laughing now?"

My mom reached over and gave him a crisp high-five. "We are!"

They looked at me expectantly, hands outstretched. I rolled my eyes and indulged, high-fiving both of them for their C+ work as parents. Not a great grade, but a passing one nonetheless.

"Now, Juvia, I want you to take a look at this bruise I have. I think it might be a deep tissue injury…"

I groaned. This was going to be my whole day, wasn't it?

.

.

.

My car was a total piece of crap.

It was definitely on its last legs. I hastily pulled into the driveway of the address that I had plugged into Google Maps, hoping I wasn't intruding on some rando's property.

Jellal and Erza had texted me their new address, the real reason I was in town again. They had moved into a nice two story house twenty minutes from where I lived as a kid. They had invited me over to come see the place, and them, of course. I had seen them over Christmas last year, but the distance was getting to me. I was desperate to see them again.

I got out of my car, double checking the house number with the one Jellal had texted me. There were no lights on at the house, and the garage was shut, so I couldn't get a look at the cars inside.

The house was pretty enough. I mean, HGTV would probably spit on it, but I thought it was cute. Maybe a little old, but cute. Looked like it had a pretty big backyard, too. Which was usually indicative of some certain future plans…

I approached the front door cautiously and knocked on the door, avoiding the urge to press my face against the glass to see if Erza and Jellal were even home.

A light flickered on. I heard footsteps come nearer until the door was thrown open.

The manic face of Jellal stared at me through the doorway. The lame twin brother I never had.

A grin broke out on my lips. He mirrored me and I jumped up to hug him. He caught me, just barely, and squeezed my midsection.

He released me with a breathless smile. "Welcome to our humble abode." He wiggled his eyebrows and moved his hands in the direction of the front steps. I walked inside, removing my really cute black boots so I could tour their house.

"The guest of honor." I heard Erza say from the top of the steps. I practically jumped the length of the stairs just to get to her. I hugged her especially tight, inhaling her jasmine smell like I was her significant other and not Jellal.

"Glad you made it." Jellal said, after shutting the door and following me up the steps. "We were afraid you'd bail."

"Hey!" I shouted, slightly offended. I kept my arm wrapped around Erza, afraid to lose the physical contact. She allowed me to do so, most likely because I'd been deprived of her for so long. "I wouldn't ditch this for the world. Look at you guys, practically adults."

Erza rolled her eyes, the fact that we were all at least 23 hinting to the fact that we were grown now. Jellal laughed and offered to give me a tour, which I gleefully agreed to.

Their house was a lovely 3 bedroom 2 bathroom two level masterpiece. It was tastefully and modernly decorated, probably thanks to Jellal more than Erza, who wouldn't know taste if it punched her in the face and stole her wallet.

When we looped back to the kitchen, Erza was offering me a big fat glass of red wine. As if I hadn't already had two glasses of white at my parent's house.

"I shouldn't," I rejected politely. "I still have to drive home tonight."

Jellal looked shell-shocked. "Aw, what? Aren't you going to stay the night here?"

I blinked. I wasn't aware that was on the table. I worked the night shift tomorrow, so staying the night wouldn't interfere with any of my plans. I turned to Erza to make sure Jellal wasn't making any offers he couldn't follow through with - she looked just as shocked as Jellal to my wine rejection.

"You're staying." Erza decided, shoving the glass into my hand without another word.

We conversed for a while, going through the updates of our respective lives. Jellal had started his first year in graduate school where he was studying microbiology, and Erza had a competitive internship at a local nonprofit. I refrained from the details of my job, so I wouldn't depress them too much. As much as people loved gross medical stories, no one wanted to hear the depressing Grey's Anatomy version of my current occupational situation.

As time passed, I noticed a few things. One was the fact that Erza was still cooking. It looked like she had been cooking for hours before I came. On top of that, there were bowls, cups, and silverware all out on their granite counter top, and most telling, an industrial sized bag of pretzel crisps.

My eyes narrowed. "What's going on here?" I asked suddenly, interrupting Jellal's story about how he barely made it into grad school.

Erza looked around guiltily. "It was supposed to be a surprise."

I blanched, instantly suspicious. Those two clowns, scheming together? A recipe for a disaster of terroristic proportions.

"Um...you aren't the only one coming tonight." Jellal admitted, scratching the tattooed side of his face. A nervous tick.

My eyes flitted between the two of them. "What do you mean?"

"He means, we're throwing a housewarming party." Erza smiled.

My anxious face melted away. "Wait...you're serious?"

"Just a small get together…" Jellal assured me. "Like, 20 people. Maybe less."

Erza looked at him like this was the first time she was hearing the official headcount. I set my half-drained glass of wine down to process the information. What were these two dumbasses hiding? Were they hinting at an impromptu high school reunion of all our closest friends?

The doorbell rang before I could finish my thoughts. Jellal saluted us to go answer. I felt my insides roll at the thought of who might be coming. I hadn't seen my friends in a long time. I'd been invited to plenty of get-togethers, New Year's parties, and friendsgivings, the like, but my attendance at said events had been spotty at best. Nursing school sort of dog-walked me in my junior and senior year, and a majority of my time was spent doing clinical rotations rather than visiting with old friends.

I heard voices from downstairs where Jellal was greeting the guests. I recognized the voices immediately.

"Say Fernandes, is that your shitty fucking Pontiac outside? The hell'd you do, slam it into a train?"

I walked to the top of the stairs so I could see the guests properly. Oh _yes_. This was definitely my day.

"That's _my _shitty Pontiac, actually." I corrected. A grin erupted on my face as I stared down at Levy and Gajeel, the latter having just finished bad mouthing my car.

"No fuckin' way." Gajeel exclaimed. Levy's smile was contagious.

"Juvia! Oh my god!" She ran up to hug me and I practically lifted her into the air. I hadn't seen her in ages. She'd spent her years on the Eastern coast diligently studying, and had made rare appearances back home. I'd heard from Gajeel that they'd started dating long-distance a year and a half ago, and now, here they were.

Gajeel was carrying what looked like cranberry walnut salad in a travel bowl. Fuck. Was this a potluck? Was I the one dickhead who didn't bring anything?

When I'd finished squeezing the daylights out of Levy, I waited less-than-patiently for Gajeel to scale the steps and hug me himself. Hugging Gajeel was like embracing a pillar of rock solid steel, but he was still pretty cuddly. I ended the hug by punching him in the bicep, hard.

"The fuck was that for?" He demanded to know. I stared at him knowingly.

"_That _was for missing our last monthly update." I admonished. I had already forgiven him, but he deserved a good punching.

Gajeel and Levy settled easily, slipping into conversation with them was like putting on an old sweater that always seemed to fit you no matter what.

"So, the fuck'd you do to your car, Lockser?" Gajeel asked, shoving a handful of pretzel crisps into his mouth. Levy smacked his wrist before I could answer.

"I had a few accidents." I admitted, trying to make it sound like it was no big deal. They all stared at me in disbelief. "Relax! Only three of them were my fault."

Jellal shook his head. "Whoever let you pass your driver's test needs to be put in jail."

"Watch it buddy." I warned, finishing my glass of wine. Levy had surprised me by almost beating me to the punch. She had rarely drank after we graduated, maybe now that she was a bigshot she'd grown accustomed to the wonders of alcohol.

The doorbell rang again. Jellal went to grab the door while we kept talking.

"Tell me I'm right," Levy began, "Gajeel thinks you pour the milk _before _you pour the cereal."

I glanced at Gajeel, knowing that this was a hot-button issue for many modern couples.

"Sorry Lev," I apologized half-heartedly. "Gajeel's a man of the future for that one."

Yes. It was true, I was a milk-before-cereal monster.

Before Levy could violently argue why she was on the winning side of the cereal debate, I heard Jellal conversing with the newest guests.

"Who's fucking Pontiac is out front? Is it pickup for the Salvation Army tomorrow?"

I growled and shot up from my seat. I knew that voice.

"Rat bastard!" I declared from the top of the steps. "Do _not _insult my ride! She's seen more bloodshed than you'll ever see!"

"Of _course_." Natsu shook his head. "Who else but Crashy McFender-Bender."

His nickname for me wasn't funny in the slightest, but I laughed anyway. Lucy made a squealing noise as she ran up to hug me.

Natsu and Lucy had been dating since the end of senior year, and since they went to the same college, they'd been going strong for five years. I had been a supporter of their relationship for...a tiny bit less than five years. That didn't matter now. Natsu had grown on me during the summer after senior year. He could be pretty funny when he wanted to. And he could mix me one hell of a strawberry daiquiri. He hugged me too, lifting me off my feet for a few seconds, probably to show off the fact that he still frequented the gym.

"I can't believe you're here!" Lucy giggled. "It's been too long! Oh my gosh, I have to show you _so _many pictures…" Lucy whipped out her phone so she could show me the adorable couple-y photos she and Natsu had taken through college. Ordinarily that would be my waking nightmare, but this was Lucy. Her excitement was painfully contagious.

The doorbell rang again. Jellal moved to answer it while Lucy explained the context of a photo that was just her and a blurry Natsu, who was in the process of falling down a flight of stairs.

"Oh my gosh, who's car is that out there? Did someone get into an accident on the way here?"

I prickled at the sound of my car's reputation being dragged through the mud, but blinked away my rage at the sight of beautiful Lisanna, with her striking snow-white hair and deep blue eyes.

She hurried up the stairs and embraced both Lucy and I. Lisanna had spent two years abroad, and seeing her back, and so rejuvenated, was literally a dream of mine.

I caught myself smiling at Erza and Jellal a lot. This was entirely their concoction, and the fact that so many of my friends had been able to attend was miraculous, truly. Evidently, I was the surprise guest, as no one knew I would be attending. A few other people I was less familiar with showed up too, friends of Erza and Jellal from college. I had only been at their house for an hour, and already at least 10 extra people including me were there.

"Glad I bought extra wine," Erza mumbled to me, cracking open the third bottle of red that night. I helped her out by lining up the glasses to be filled and distributing them to the party guests, making light conversation as I travelled. The doorbell rang, and I prayed to god this time whoever arrived would _not _mention the state of my poor car.

"Listen, whoever's Pontiac is parked out front...that was _not _me, ok? It was like that when I got here."

I glanced back at Erza, knowing full well this honorary invitation was for my sake exclusively.

I stood at the top of the steps, mustering the dirtiest look I could conjure.

Sting looked up at me and grinned. He was holding the fattest bottle of Smirnoff I'd ever seen. Was he trying to kill me?

"I should've known. Only you would drive a car that looks like it tried to kill itself to get away from you."

"Fuck off." Was my only response. I traipsed down the stairs, but instead of hugging one of my best friends in the whole world, I stole the Smirnoff bottle from him.

"That's for _everyone_, you know." He informed me crisply. My eye twitched and I resisted the instinct to bash the ottle over his stupid blond head.

I smiled, tilting the bottle playfully. "I missed you."

"Obviously." He grinned wolfishly. "I figured sexy Fernandes invited me here for a reason. That's why I brought your favorite vodka, after all."

Jellal ignored Sting's verbal harassment and took the Smirnoff from me, probably to make sure it was distributed fairly and not hoarded by people like me.

Sting and I moved together, mingling freely with all my old friends, especially Erza. Erza only partially tolerated Sting, and I assumed it was merely cross-tolerance as a personal favor to me. Sting flirted openly with her boyfriend on an almost religious basis. It only bothered her a little bit, not because he was a threat, but because of the open disrespect. She failed to realize that Sting didn't respect anyone or anything, so his disregard of her monogamy wasn't personal.

An hour later, I was a tiny bit buzzed. Emphasis on tiny. Drinking until I was shitfaced had sort of lost its appeal after I turned 21, but being in the presence of so many friends made drinking a lot more appetizing.

"I hate you all." Lucy groaned, watching her boyfriend do a shot of vodka and chase it with a Gogurt from Jellal's secret stash. Lucy couldn't usually go past a glass or two of wine, lest her blood sugar be sent into a total tailspin. Getting drunk was entirely out of the question for her, but that didn't stop Natsu from showing off in front of her.

I laid my head on Lucy's shoulder and patted her head comfortingly. "There, there."

Levy was drunk. I had never seen a drunk Levy before. Not that it took much to get her drunk. Tiny, tiny woman. This didn't seem like Gajeel's first time, either. He was handling it quite well, in fact.

"Juvia, should I order some pizza?" Erza asked me nervously. We were running slightly low on food. Jellal hadn't told her the head count until it was too late, and now their kitchen mostly comprised of empty wine bottles and what was left of the Smirnoff bottle Sting had brought.

"Yeah, maybe." I agreed. Sting was looking particularly ravenous. Maybe pizza would take the edge off, and maybe do well to absorb some of the alcohol in people's systems.

"Ok, I'll have Jellal call." She bit her lip and left the kitchen to find her boyfriend.

I thought about following her, but turned back to speak more the the party guests. Namely Sting, who had been tailing me since he arrived.

"Want another shot, princess?" He asked me, jokingly, I presumed. I shook my head. I didn't need any more.

"Buzzkill," he grumbled. Sting had gone clubbing with me, Jenny, and Minerva a few times in college. Sting was no stranger to shitfaced Juvia, in fact, he was a well known _accomplice _of drunk Juvia. He couldn't be trusted.

"You're a terrible influence." I surmised. "I almost got arrested because of you. Twice."

He looked at me like he was disappointed I brought it up. Ass. "And yet here you are, not in jail. Where's my thanks?"

"Certainly not here." I mumbled, munching on some pretzel crisps slowly. "How's single life?"

"Better than monogamy. How's Bora?" He asked, stealing a pretzel crisp out of my hands and chewing it slowly.

Ouch. I hadn't told him that I'd had to crash-land that relationship last week. Long story short, Bora was a manipulative freak and when he found out I'd been planning on leaving town he didn't take it well.

"Uhhhhhhh…" I trailed off, hoping my awkwardness would speak for itself. It did.

"Ah." Sting acknowledged. "I never liked him."

Neither did I, I don't think. Bora was a placeholder. I used him, I'd admit it. But he used me too.

"I know." I said instead. Sting thought he was annoying. He could be. Bora wasn't a Sting fan either, he thought he was "posing as gay" to be close to me, which didn't make a goddamn lick of sense.

Jellal and Erza came into the kitchen, Jellal holding his cell phone and Erza giving him very strict, clear instructions on how many and what kind of pizza he would be ordering. Like me, Jellal struggled with everyday tasks such as ordering pizza and following simple instructions.

Before I could help Jellal with the very complicated chore ahead of him, the doorbell rang again.

"Juvia, can you get that?" Erza asked me, probably so Jellal wouldn't flake out of ordering the pizza.

"Yeah I'll get it - you better order me a Hawaiian pizza." I added, pointing at Jellal sharply.

"It'll be an icy day in hell when we allow you to defile pizza with fruit, you sick motherfucker." Sting attacked, pointing to Jellal threateningly.

"Tomato is a fruit, you fucking moron! You gonna order pizza without sauce?" I sassed, keeping eye contact with him as I descended the stairs to get to the door.

"Maybe I will!" Sting replied loudly. I rolled my eyes and pulled the front door open, plastering a welcoming smile on my face as I did so.

Only to have it slide off my face not even a second afterwards.

Gray stared back at me, a dumbstruck look on his face.

It suddenly occurred to me that I had never mentioned my little falling out with Gray to anyone but the people who witnessed it. The fact that I had essentially ghosted him since was another delicious detail only I was privy to.

See, I always knew that decision would haunt me later in life. Sadly, I always just assumed I'd die spectacularly before karma would have its shot at sinking its dirty manicured claws into my flesh.

I was dead wrong.

We stared at each other. A lifetime must've passed. The cool air from outside took hold of me as I propped the front door open, too stunned to move.

"Juvia." He finally greeted, his facial expression a cool mixture of tact and disinterest. He was holding a bag of Chex-Mix that looked like it had just been purchased off the shelves of Target as a last-minute option.

A choking sound rose to my throat. Fuck. I mean, _fuck_.

In another life, I must have pissed off the wrong motherfucking deity, because what the ever-loving _fuck_.

I was not equipped for this. Mentally, I meant. My headspace was at a DEFCON 1, like every nerve cell had just thrown their hands in the air and declared 'fuck it' and just let my brain short-circuit like a Macbook Pro that got tossed in a lake.

Gray finally moved. He stepped past me, inside the house, and walked on forward, like I was just a dumbass road block.

_Well, fuck you too._

I finally moved, slowly pressing the door shut, still in total disbelief that I was this thoroughly fucked. And not even in the fun way.

Gray had moved up the stairs to greet the other party guests, like my presence didn't bother him in the slightest. I was a bit miffed that he wasn't making a bigger deal out of this. Maybe I was just upset that I was more shaken by his presence than he was of mine. It wasn't fair. Why did I always have to be the one stricken by him? Couldn't it be the other way around, even once?

Sting was looking at me weirdly from the top of the steps, sipping on red wine like he was a pensive housewife plotting her husband's murder. His eyes drifted from Gray, and then back to me. He was no idiot. The tension was embarrassingly palpable.

I climbed the steps, stupidly. Erza and Jellal had undoubtedly invited him with good intentions, still under the impression that Gray and I had split on good terms. We had. But I had made damn sure to fuck it up somewhere in between our breakup and now.

Fuck. I should've apologized the minute I opened the door and saw his remarkably handsome face. I owed him that much. Even though my silence had been critical at the time, it wasn't fair for me not to give him any explanation. I had my reasons for icing him out. And he deserved to know.

I stared at the back of his head. He was talking to Natsu and Lucy. They were laughing and talking animatedly. I willed myself to walk towards him. Closer, close enough I could reach forward and grab his shirt-

And then I immediately swerved to the left, ducking my head down and making a beeline towards the guest bedroom Erza had set me up in. That was it. I was going to lock myself in that room and not come out until everyone left. The perfect, cowardly option was ideal for my current situation.

Until I was foiled by Erza.

She grabbed the collar of my shirt from behind, keeping me from moving forward like I was a stubborn child who had disobeyed her mother.

Erza looked at me sternly. I turned and smiled sheepishly.

"I have to pee?" I tried, gauging her reaction for belief. No such luck.

"Liar." She accused. "What's wrong?"

"I…" I trailed off, staring at the space behind Erza to make sure no beautiful dark haired men were eavesdropping.

Erza blanched, like my one syllable had revealed everything she needed to know.

"It's Gray, isn't it?" She wondered, before her face dropped. "Oh god, you aren't still in love with him, are you?"

_That _caught me off guard. I started sputtering like my tongue had been recently mutilated.

"No!" I whisper-shouted. "Are you crazy!? I-" my brain was spinning in circles. She thought I still _loved _him? Was she crazy? Or was I?

"Are you sure? You're looking at him the way Joaquin Phoenix looks at a flight of stairs." She murmured.

I rolled my eyes. "I do not _still love _him. I just...may or may not have...fallen out...with him. A while ago. And we, uh...we haven't exactly spoken." I summarized for her.

Erza looked disappointed. In herself, or me, I couldn't tell. "Oh, Juvia. I'm sorry. I didn't know."

I knew she didn't. It was far from her fault that I was so stubborn.

"It's ok." I reassured her. "I just need to...regroup."

I pulled in a few deep breaths and Erza steadied me. "I got you your pizza, if it makes you feel any better."

I struggled to laugh. "It does, actually."

We stood there for a few moments, just settling our nerves. Or, more accurately, my nerves. I needed to stop being such a coward about this. My business with Gray needed to be dealt with. Tonight.

_Oh fuck. I think I'm gonna throw up._

"Jellal is going to pick up the pizza." Erza informed me slowly. "I can ask him to take Gray with him…?"

"No, it's alright." I told her, flashing my best nervous smile. "I can handle this. Hopefully."

"Whatever you say." She said breezily. "Let me know if you need backup."

"I will." I promised, glancing behind her once again. "Let's do this."

We wandered back into the dining area, where Natsu, Lucy and Gray were still talking. Sting gave me a knowing look. Bastard. He probably understood the situation simply based off of the context. Which there was precious little of.

Okay. It was game time.

I approached Gray quietly, like I was hunting him for sport. I had to be careful how I played this. I definitely wanted to be casual, but the subject matter wasn't really meant for group discussion. I needed to get him alone.

Lucy noticed me stalking them mid-conversation. She looked inquisitive, and maybe a little freaked out. I probably looked terrified. Natsu was fairly drunk, from what I could observe. His hand was slung over Gray's shoulder while he talked, making Gray bend down slightly to meet him halfway, since Natsu was sitting down and Gray was standing.

"Juvia!" Natsu's eyes brightened. Fuck. He saw me from the empty space under Gray's arm. I froze, a stupid fake smile on my face at being noticed. Lucy looked at me like she was expecting me to say something especially moronic. She was not wrong.

"Juvia, you have to settle something for us." Natsu slurred, using way too many hand gestures for too few words. Gray turned to me, regarding me silently. He had a beer in his hands, and I was a little jealous that he could look so casual while I felt like I was being deep-fried in Satan's favorite burger joint.

"Who's funnier, me or Gray? Cuz I think _I'm _funnier. And more handsome. Objectively." Natsu observed. Lucy rolled her eyes and mouthed an apology to me. If this were five years ago, I would've jumped at the chance to bait both Gray _and _Natsu and engage in a civil discourse, but I had more pressing matters to attend to.

"Sure." I agreed without thinking. "Gray, can you help me with something?"

All three of them stared at me for a second. Gray looked like he knew I was leading him into a trap. Lucy and Natsu just looked lost.

Gray's lip twitched, before he shrugged. "I guess." He agreed half-heartedly.

Oh thank god.

I quickly turned and began walking down the hallway Erza and I had occupied a few minutes ago. I assumed he was still following me without turning to check, and I fumbled for the doorknob of the guest bedroom, missing a few times before I got a good grip and pushed the door open. I entered as I held the door and listened for the sound of him following me. His footsteps arrived quietly, and he came into the room past me. Excellent. I shut the door behind us and turned to look at him.

He blinked, suddenly confused. "What do you need help with?"

My face dropped. He wasn't seriously this stupid, was he? Or was he just messing with me?

I crossed my arm and pressed my back against the door, trying to hint to him that he was stuck in the guest bedroom with me for the time being.

A look of realization hit his face. Finally, some wheels were turning in that fat, pretty head of his.

"Oh." He stated, before taking another casual sip of his beer. God. I wanted to crack the bottle over the top of his head.

"Gray…" I started. Suddenly, I didn't know what to say. Why did I always throw myself head first into plans without thinking twice? Have I learned zero lessons? "I...think we should talk."

He looked at me then, a glint of something - maybe anger - flashed in his eyes.

"_Oh_." He laughed, bitterly. I tried not to recoil at how upset he sounded, it was bizarre and out of character for him. "_Now _you want to talk."

Ah. Apparently he did hold grudges.

"Because I thought you made it _pretty _clear you don't want to talk to me." he finished, a look of satisfaction on his handsome features. "Isn't that right?"

"I-" _Fuck_. I didn't have an answer for that one. I had never seen Gray so confrontational before. Judging by the sharp look in his dark eyes, he'd been wanting to say this for a long time.

"That was a long time ago." I settled, tapping my nails together. Gray looked disappointed by my lackluster response.

"I wouldn't have come if I knew you were going to be here." He admitted, his jaw locking with finality.

Ouch. Wow. That hurt more than I thought it would.

He read my hurt with dull eyes. Like my emotions didn't concern him anymore. Well, they technically didn't.

I continued to say nothing. Ok, I was officially doing a shitty job at talking things out with Gray. Was I born a moron?

He looked exhausted at my lack of fight, too. Like he wanted me to spit back at him, to fight his fire with mine.

"Why didn't you call me?" He finally asked.

I sighed, unsure how I wanted to explain myself. I wanted him to understand that I had my reasons, without revealing too much of my hand. The problem was, I couldn't do both. At least not to Gray, who was an excellent reader of my terrible poker face.

"If I called you…" I began, drawing a hand through my long blue hair. Fuck. I couldn't do this. "I read your letter too late!"

He tilted his head in confusion. I agreed. More context was needed.

"Your letter was meant for me...at least, me a long time ago. I read it too late. It...made me want things I couldn't have." I explained sadly, praying he wouldn't ask me to elaborate.

His lips parted slightly, in realization. Thank god. Then, his face dropped again, and he looked pissed.

"So your solution was to...what? Never speak to me again?" He asked, anger creeping into his tone once more.

"Did you not hear what i just said?" I asked him, bewildered. "I couldn't call you, because I wanted something you didn't! Do you know how painful it would be, to have to…" I trailed off, again. I really didn't want to hold his hand through this one.

"Would you _fucking _stop doing that?!" He yelled, making me jump a little. I wasn't used to Gray raising his voice at me. He was typically a pretty chill person who was fairly slow to anger. Whenever he raised his voice, it meant he was seriously pissed.

He let out a bitter laugh. "You do this _all the time_. Stop assuming you know what I want, or what I'm thinking! You always think you have everyone all figured out, when the truth is, you don't have a fucking clue what's going on in anyone's head but your own!"

He stopped himself towards the end, like he let something slip out that he didn't mean to say. It didn't matter. He wanted fight? I'd show him a fight.

"I don't do that!" I bit out. "Besides, I was right! I needed to move on, Gray. I did the right thing, and I'm _not _sorry for it!"

A semi-lie. But I dug my own grave. It was time to lay in it.

"You do it _all the time_." He repeated, obnoxiously sure of himself. "You make decisions for other people based off of it, too. It drives me totally crazy. Would it kill you to just listen to what other people have to say before you do something insanely stupid?"

I scoffed. "What decisions? What are you talking about?" I asked, before pausing. Was he saying what I thought he was saying, or was I reading too far into things?

He set his beer down on the nightstand by the bed and ran his hands through his inky black hair, visibly frustrated by me.

"You _assumed _that we didn't want the same thing. So you _decided _not to call me, effectively ending our relationship." He spelled out for me. "You didn't even _ask _me. You just thought you knew what I wanted."

My mouth opened, then shut again.

Well. He wasn't wrong.

"Yeah." He agreed with my non-descript response, then reached for his beer again.

My fire came back, a bit less deranged, but still there.

"What are you saying, Gray?" I asked him. "Do you…? Did you…?"

I hoped my non-specific questions spoke for themselves. Was he seriously trying to tell me that after all this time, he _had _wanted to be with me again? There was no way that was true.

"I don't know." He answered truthfully. "But it doesn't matter. You decided for me. _Again_."

"What do you mean, _again_?" I mimicked his tone angrily.

He shook his head. "Juvia, whose idea was it for us to break it off?"

_Wait, what?_

I blinked. "Ours." I said, without a doubt in my mind. Our mutual breakup was a very obvious fact that had very obviously happened, end of story.

He smiled cruelly, like he knew that's what I was going to say. "No. It was _yours_."

I blanched. "Are you kidding? We agreed-"

"No." He interrupted swiftly. "_You _assumed I wanted to break up so I could focus on college. You also assumed that I didn't want to do distance, so you decided we should break up before we left for college."

I bit my tongue. There was no way that was true. We both agreed that distance would be too hard. That we needed to experience college alone, and figure out who we were.

Didn't we?

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Was Gray right? Was I a master psychopath who decided things for people because of my own insecure assumptions?

My face felt hot, like someone had held up a magnifying glass and reflected the sun's light directly onto my skin until I was set ablaze.

"Gray," I said gently, my voice fragile. "Are you...saying you didn't want to break up?"

His silence was answer enough.

Holy fucking shit. Holy hell. Fuck.

I felt like I was being gutted. Not only because I was realizing this fatal flaw about myself, but because he was telling me all of this _five years too late_. It had been _five years _since we broke up. How could he have felt this all along and said nothing?

Oh. _Oh_.

I was just as guilty as him. I'd loved him when I saw him at the club three years ago. I said nothing. I was too afraid. I had made my mind up about how he felt. We both passed by each other that night, both wanting the same thing but both too _dumb _to do anything about it.

We had both been silent for a long time. This was probably because there was only one question left, one question for the both of us.

Did we feel the same way now as we did then?

The romantic neanderthal part of my brain wanted to say yes, to attack him right now and kiss him until he was utterly sick of me because I still held the world's fattest torch for him.

But the rational part of my brain knew that a _lot _had changed. We were different people now than we were then. To say that nothing had changed would be foolish, because almost everything had changed, and just because feelings were there didn't mean everything would magically work itself out like a YA novel.

"What do you want me to say?" I asked him. He was sitting on the guest bed, having finished his beer and set it on the nightstand in defeat. I moved to sit next to him, feeling weirdly close to him even after we'd just finished yelling at each other.

He sighed. "It wouldn't kill you to tell me that I'm right."

I rolled my eyes. "You _know _what I mean."

He looked at me, then. I met his eyes and I melted. I mean, god. He really was ridiculously good-looking - almost unrealistically so.

"I just...I think I just needed you to know. That's all." He replied quietly.

So it was closure he wanted. That made sense. It just sucked I made him wait three years to get it. Well, closer to five years, I guess.

We were silent again. His hand was splayed on the comforter, and I wanted to set my hand on top of his so badly it itched. But I couldn't complicate things further. I didn't want to send him mixed signals.

"So...you still dating that blue haired guy?" Gray asked suddenly. I could tell by his tone of voice that he was messing with me, but his question was serious.

My jaw dropped. "You've been stalking me." I accused playfully. He laughed.

"Stalking is such a _heavy _word. I prefer light researching." He informed me. "Besides, you're the queen of _light researching_. And don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about."

That shut me up. I certainly had a penchant for obsessively refreshing his social media pages, which was a total nightmare because he barely posted _anything_. To this day I had no idea if he'd had a single girlfriend all throughout college. Stupid secretive bastard.

"I'll neither confirm nor deny that statement." I opted to respond. The last thing he needed to know was that I was a regular Joe Goldberg when it came to aggressively following social media presence. "And no, I'm not dating Bora anymore."

Gray made a humming sound of approval. "Good. I didn't like him."

I turned to him and huffed. "You've never even met him."

He shrugged. "Doesn't matter."

"Uh-huh." I remarked. He sounded like Sting.

We heard voices from outside the guest bedroom. Excited voices. It was pretty obvious what that meant.

"Jellal probably got the pizza." I said aloud. Gray nodded.

"Yeah. We should go so you can eat your terrible pizza." He grinned, like he was excited to say it.

I tilted my head. "You mean Hawaiian pizza? You _like _Hawaiian, dumbass." I reminded him.

He turned to look at me, a sort of knowing look on his face, like he was twelve pages ahead of me and was waiting for me to catch up.

I almost choked. "Are you - are you serious? Did you pretend to like Hawaiian pizza just because I liked it?"

He shrugged. "In the spirit of honesty...yeah."

"Oh my god." I muttered. This fucking dumbass. "Of _all _the lies you could tell…"

He laughed again. "I also hate Quentin Tarantino movies."

This made me shove him, hard. He barely moved, like I had decided to push a granite pillar to very little effect,

"Are you kidding me? How many fucking Tarantino movies did you make me sit through?" I asked, horrified at how many hours had been wasted.

"Yeah." He smiled. "Quite a few."

I shuddered. I couldn't believe he hated Tarantino as much as I did and made me watch the movies just because he knew I hated them. What a total ass.

My actions didn't reflect my thoughts, because I was smiling. It wasn't my fault. It was like being around Gray always made me light up a tiny bit. It was addicting, and fascinating. It was so easy to slip back into what I remembered. It was so easy to see why I held onto him with such ferocity.

"Don't you want to go eat your pizza?" He asked me earnestly. I shot him a glare.

"You'd like that wouldn't you?" I asked rhetorically. "Pineapple on pizza is the future."

I stood up from the bed, smoothing the wrinkles out of my suede skirt. We needed to get back out to the party before people started making dumb assumptions. Namely Sting, who was the only person who was more talented than me at jumping to conclusions.

Gray stood too, extending to his full height, around 6'2". Delicious. I loved a tall man. I would climb him like a tree if I didn't have an extended history of complicated romantic feelings towards him.

"Whatever you're thinking, stop it." He advised me with a pointed look. I felt my cheeks heat up. Fuck.

"Weren't you _just _lecturing me on not assuming you know the inner workings of someone's mind?" I reminded him. He shook his head, like his criticism only applied to me.

"You were wearing your scheming face. Not an assumption - an observation." He concluded his sentence by tapping my head, and then his, like our minds were connected. That was ugly. Sasuke Uchiha looking motherfucker...

"I don't have a scheming face." I muttered, opening the door to the guest bedroom and checking the hall to make sure there were no witnesses. "Coast is clear. Let's go."

Gray and I walked out of the bedroom, attempting to look casual. We probably looked fucking stupid, but that was the price we had to pay for having arguably the most complex relationship of anyone in Jellal and Erza's house. Not everyone was so lucky to be in a happy and committed relationship to someone from high school.

In fact, now that I thought more about it, it was totally weird that so many of our friends were still together with their high school sweethearts.

We must've been extremely lucky. Or stupid. Or maybe a healthy combination of both.

"Juvia, can I take your car to go pickup this guy I met on Grindr? I think he might be 40, but I think if I use _your _car I can scare off any potential serial killers." Sting asked me. He only noticed Gray standing awkwardly behind me after he finished speaking, to which he _needed _to comment on.

"Whoa. The hell were you two just doing?" He asked incredulously. "And _don't _bother lying. Gray is a Pisces, and Juvia is a Scorpio, so you either just had really intense sex or tried to kill each other." Sting's eyes darted between us.

Gray and I were rendered silent. That was a weirdly specific conclusion to draw.

It was the second one. I think. Possibly?

"I'm not gonna dignify that with a response." I said instead. "And you're not taking my car anywhere."

"_Please_, Juvia. That car is practically begging me to take it away from you. It's basically a hate crime that you're still driving." He admonished. "The pizza's in the kitchen, by the way."

I heard Gray laughing from behind me. "Don't tell me...that's _your _Pontiac out there?"

Not a-_fucking-_gain.

"Go ahead." I told him. "Go on! You have 5 seconds to make fun of me."

Gray jumped at the chance. "I thought your car was one of those example crashed cars they use to advise teens not to drink and drive."

Ouch. That was low.

Sting considered that for a second. "I like his better than mine."

"Shut up. Both of you." I grumbled. Seriously. "You're both sexist." I settled. Obviously they were only attacking me because I was a woman. Obviously.

"You can't keep calling me sexist every time I criticize you." Sting informed me, swinging his arm over my shoulder and almost knocked me to the ground because he put some significant weight into it. Look who was talking. The man who once accused me of homophobia for not buying him a large fry at Mcdonald's and then threatened to report me for harassment.

I went to go pick up a slice of my Hawaiian pizza. Only Lisanna appreciated my fine taste. She was eating the Hawaiian pizza too, and together we endured the harsh glares of the less advanced folk eating pepperoni like it was goddamn 1995. Grow up. Fools.

I kept making weird eye contact with Gray. It was especially weird because every time I caught myself looking at him it only took him a fraction of a second to turn and meet my gaze, like he'd installed Juvia sensors on the back of his head.

I didn't mind though. Because this time, when he caught me staring, he'd only smile.

.

.

.

The rest of the night went by relatively painlessly. By this of course I meant that I was only involved in 3 or 4 embarrassing stories and my poor car got torn to shreds verbally by the assholes I called my friends.

I loved them. I'd been away too long, that became clear the more time passed. I needed to visit more. Which was only going to be harder when I finalized my move to Crocus, 3 hours from home.

I didn't tell anyone that. I just wanted to be in the moment for one more night.

Of course, one night doesn't last forever.

It was 3 AM when the people at the party finally realized it was probably time to start leaving. I had been helping Erza and Jellal clean up the kitchen while people talked in the living room when I noticed people slipping their shoes on to make drive home.

I wanted to protest, but we were already pushing it. I helped people gather their things by the front door, having stalled long enough.

"Fuck. I'm basically sober now." I heard Natsu grumble to Lucy, who had stolen his car keys with the intention of driving it home.

"Yeah, there's no way you're getting behind the wheel, dumbass." Lucy responded, kissing him on the cheek and jingling his keys in front of his face. She turned to me and gave me a long hug.

"_Promise_ this isn't the last time you'll be in town this year." She whispered in my ear. I nodded. I couldn't lie to her verbally. Besides, it was the _thought _that counted, in the end. I wanted to visit. Whether or not I actually would, was a totally different story.

Gajeel came up behind me and kissed me on top of the head, balancing a still tipsy Levy with one of his arms.

"Good to see you." He said, for once, his rocky voice lacking any sarcasm.

"Yesss, I missed you." Levy added, squeezing me around the middle lovingly. "Come visit us soon."

"Only when you two buy a house as fancy as this one." I hinted, shooting a look to Gajeel that said something along the lines of "_hurry up and propose to this woman_."

Gajeel rolled his eyes. Ah. That meant he was working on it. Brilliant.

"Hey." Sting said, ruffling my hair. "I'm in your town next week. You're buying me KFC."

"Fine. But _you're _pretending to be my boyfriend so I can get that couple's discount at the spa I like." I bargained. He nodded, accepting my terms.

While I hugged Lisanna, Lucy and Natsu drove away, as well as Levy and Gajeel. Erza and Jellal's college friends were leaving, too.

It was getting down to the wire. The house suddenly felt very, very empty.

Except for one asshole. Besides myself, obviously.

Gray looked down at me, smiling. "Walk me to my car?"

The question was innocent, but I knew it had an underlying meaning. I nodded. Jellal and Erza watched us leave the house from on top of the steps. I knew the instant we stepped outside they would start to gossip about us, _Jellal _especially, the little hussy. They'd beg me for details when I came back inside to spend the night, obviously.

The night air hit me, brisk and chilly. I crossed my arms over my chest to keep my hands warm and followed Gray to his car, which was parked a half a block from Jellal and Erza's house. He spared a glance at my shitty car in the driveway, but opted to say nothing critical. Smart boy.

We were quiet as we walked, the sound of our footsteps was enough to satiate us, at least, until we reached his black Nissan.

Gray turned to me as he unlocked his car, leaning his back against the driver's side. He crossed his arms too, looking down at me like he was expecting something of me.

"What?" I asked, trying not to let his presence infect me.

"What?" He repeated.

Ok. I was going to punch him.

"_Gray_," I protested. Fuck I was smiling. God! I was such a sucker for him. Maybe I needed to be euthanized.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" he finally asked.

"Say what?" I inquired. I felt like we had said enough. Probably. I didn't know! This was a lot to process for one night.

He rolled his eyes. "You're dumb. I'm telling you that the ball is in _your _court." He explained to me.

I looked at him blankly. "You should know by now that sports metaphors go over my head."

"Fine." He gave in. "I said stuff. Now it's your turn to say something."

Wow. Very enlightening, Gray.

But I understood what he was saying. He'd sort of bore his heart to me and now it was my turn for a truth bomb. Vulnerability for vulnerability, so to speak.

"To be honest," I began. "I...feel like you know everything I'm thinking before I even say it. This feels pointless."

He smiled. He probably thought I was right. "It does have a point." He assured me. "The point is to embarrass you."

"Fair enough." I conceded. "I...think you might be right."

"About?" Gray prodded.

"_About _me assuming things about people." I answered sheepishly. "Thank you Dr. Phil." I added, just to make sure I didn't seem _too _vulnerable. That would mess up my branding.

He grinned. "Was that so hard?"

I bit my lip to keep from smiling again. It wasn't hard. In fact, it felt kind of nice.

"One more." I told him, taking a bold step closer to him.

He eyed me almost cautiously, like he was afraid I was going to shiv him.

"I missed you." I said simply. It was enough for me to say it. It wasn't revealing enough to let him know exactly how I felt, but it was unguarded enough to let Gray know I appreciated his honesty.

He froze. I had successfully disarmed him. Ha! That was 1 point for Juvia, and like...2,000 points for Gray. Whatever. It was still a point. I had earned it.

He didn't respond. At least, not directly. He closed the distance between us, his hand curling underneath my hair and around the back of my neck, his thumb lightly resting on the place where my jaw met my neck.

"One more." he repeated after me, eerily quiet.

"When I look at you," he began. "I forget where I am. Or what I'm doing. I-"

His hands were shaking. Oh god. Was he going to strangle me?

"I feel like this isn't the end." He surmised, his composure returning. "I feel like there's more we need to do together."

He looked down at me, his face a mixture of emotions, but he was looking at me for confirmation. He was asking me if he was crazy.

He was. A little.

I answered him with actions instead of words. Bravely, I reached up, pushing myself onto my tip-toes so I could kiss him properly. He tasted like the blueberries he'd been sneaking out of Erza's fridge all night when he thought no one was looking at him. I had been looking. I was always looking at him.

He reacted with earnest, pulling me closer to him and sucking on my bottom lip. Fuck. that was really attractive. Even though my hands were cold, I ignored the bite of the cool wind and fisted my hands in his silky dark hair.

I held on, probably too long. I hadn't been kissed like this for years. It was a message - a promise. One of something more, something to come.

I pulled back, a stupid smile of satisfaction on my face. I still had it.

I looked at his annoyingly hard to read face.

"I feel it, too."

He stared at me, before a small smile broke out onto his face. He was still holding me. Fuck. I was starting to blush. I could not believe I had the balls to do that! Was I an idiot?

"Okayyy," I said, stepping back a little and pushing my hands lightly against his chest. "You need to get in the car. Now."

He laughed at my embarrassment. Oh right. He _had _said that was his ultimate goal.

He obeyed though, opening the car door and sliding in, irritatingly slow.

"This isn't over, Juvia." he said, pointing to me suspiciously.

"Obviously." I responded, slamming his car door shut right on his stupid perfect face.

He rolled down the window, unimpressed by my outburst.

"Call me." He said, almost like it was a command. "When you're ready to, uh. You know. Move forward."

He added the last part a little hastily, before he rolled his window back up and started to pull out of his parking spot.

I watched him leave this time. The lights of his car faded but I stayed.

My fingers brushed my lips, and I grinned.

He was right. This wasn't the end.

* * *

**ONE MORE THING BC IM ANNOYING**

**i know i said this is meant to be 3 chapters. but. chapter 3 is getting hella long so i think i might split it into 2 parts. i know. clown behavior. BUT the next chap should come out a week from today. hopefully.**

**thank u for reading everyone. ur all so kind and sweet and u make my heart fat and soft. until next week xoxo**


	3. ready to run

**20/20**

**Chapter 3: ready to run**

**Summary: six years after graduation, Juvia attends the wedding of Natsu and Lucy. Chaos ensues, as usual.**

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**a few things b4 we start - **

**this fic is now officially 4 chapters. id like to get chapter 4 done before the 22nd, but we'll see bc i have nothing written so far. it'll be before february if all else fails.**

**this chapter is also a bit more plot driven than relationship driven - the relationship stuff will be the part two to this chapter. **

**fun fact: this chapter was originally going to be my h/t sequel, just as a oneshot. i decided later that a six year time jump was a _bit _too much and i needed to lay a tiny bit of foundation, thus, this fic was born. also, the first few thousand words of this story was written by an 18 year old me, so 20 year old me had to take the baton and run with it. its a mess is what im saying, as all my writing usually is.**

**as always thank u for your continued support. heart eyes for all of u.**

* * *

Being 24 and single was a lot of fun, especially in the city.

My roommate, Minerva, was proving my point by having a lot of..._fun _with her girlfriend in her bedroom, located directly adjacent to mine. I continued to stare, dead-eyed, at the wall while listening to them laugh and chat, probably discussing how utterly _amazing _it was to be young and in love.

I probably should have put on my headphones. I was starting to feel like a total freak listening in on their muffled conversation, but it wasn't my fault the walls were so damn thin.

I was glad to have Minerva and Yukino, though. Minerva had been in Crocus for two years already, and had a spare room for me to move into last year when I needed a place to stay.

I set down the book I had been pretending to read over my face and breathed out heavily. Of _course _I was happy for Minerva, the perpetually scowling lady devil with the sharp eyes of a murderous viper and a mouth to match. It was by sheer divine intervention that she was able to find a stable relationship with the ray of literal human joy, Yukino Aguria. In fact, it was so miraculous, it had started to give me hope that maybe I wasn't eternally fucked and would have a shot at _not _dying alone and unloved.

But alas. Two years had passed since Minerva and Yukino started dating, and I was still flying solo. I think Minerva only remained living with me out of pity, and to keep me from adopting fifty cats and then giving said cats my advanced directive.

I jumped when the wall I was resting my head against banged to life. Minerva, as if she could sense my inner dismay, interrupted my depressing thoughts with an outright display of bitchiness.

"Go get the mail you fat whore!" She yelled from within her room, her sharp voice resonating perfectly through the paper mache walls.

_Lovely, isn't she?_

"Alright, but only since you asked so nicely." I responded, getting up off my ass and dropping my book to the floor. I was pretty sure Minerva actually was some sort of empath, because whenever I felt myself get depressed, she would be up my ass instantaneously unleashing the mighty wrath of her fury upon me for not washing a fork or something stupid. It was kind of...nice. Emphasis on kind of.

I wandered down to the first floor of our apartment building to pick up our mail, which hadn't been touched in about a week. The only mail Minerva and I would get would be local ads, bills, and the occasional impulsive Amazon package. It was a little strange that she had asked me to go get the mail, but I was positive she only did it to make me get off my ass.

I unlocked the mailbox and grabbed the small pile of papers from within. Shutting the box, I turned and began leafing through the mail to see if we actually got anything interesting.

Heat bill, wifi bill, sushi coupons, and…

My fingers stopped at the sight of a single small envelope addressed to me. It was in human handwriting, so I knew it wasn't a weird ad or a scam. I grabbed the letter and held it close to my face for inspection.

I didn't recognize the return address, but I did recognize the name. Lucy Heartfilia.

My brain practically seized in excitement. The last time I saw Lucy had been a housewarming party thrown a year ago by Erza and Jellal. Although a letter was a weirdly formal way to contact me...we obviously still texted occasionally and were Facebook friends, so why a letter…?

Ignoring my inner monologue, I used my teeth to tear open the letter on my way to the elevator, patience be damned. Inside the envelope was a silky creme colored card with gold embellishments along the side, as well as teeth marks courtesy of yours truly. I ripped the card out of the envelope and stared at the front.

No fucking _way._

"Lucy Heartfilia and Natsu Dragneel cordially invite you to attend their wedding celebration...what the shit?" I voiced out loud like a psychopath, rereading the inscription over and over again. A _wedding_? I didn't even know that they were engaged! Was I really _that _out of the loop?

I could hear my mother's voice in my head saying _See Juvia? This is what happens when you don't regularly check Facebook. _

I was an idiot.

I tapped the invitation while thinking. A wedding _would _be pretty fun, and a great way to see all of my old high school friends. And the wedding was kid-free, so I wouldn't have to worry about a bunch of sticky brats ruining my buzz.

But…

I glared down at the words _plus one_ and grimaced. Minerva and Yukino were basically my only adult friends that weren't lying in hospital beds, and I wasn't allowed to bring my patients because of...HIPPA, I guess.

Although, bringing Yukino wouldn't be the worst idea. Yukino had actually attended high school with me, weirdly enough, we just never really...ran in the same circles. AKA, I was too busy daydreaming about Gray Fullbuster to even notice anyone outside of my immediate circle of friends.

My heart suddenly seized. _Gray Fullbuster. _Friend of Natsu Dragneel. Would undoubtedly be attending the wedding.

My mouth went dry. Embarrassing myself in front of Gray when I hadn't seen him in nearly a year? Just..._perfect. _

I had to think of something. And fast.

I needed a date other than Yukino, because Minerva would beat my ass before letting me use her girlfriend as a stand-in. I could take one of the doctors at the hospital, even at the risk of my date being over 70 years of age. Status trumped age, after all.

I shook my head, embarrassed at my own thought process. I unlocked my apartment and walked in, still thinking.

What was I so worried about, anyway? Going without a plus one wasn't that big of a deal. I was a strong, successful, independent woman, and having someone on my arm wasn't something that was absolutely necessary.

That settled it. I was going alone.

I set the mail on the kitchen table and pressed my knuckles to my lips, my eyes lingering on the cursed invitation. Sure, I could go alone.

Or…

I grinned and pulled my phone out of my pocket. Why hadn't I thought of this right away? The answer was obvious.

I pressed my phone to my ear and waited for him to pick up. He owed me about 10 million favors, so getting him to accompany me to the wedding would be a breeze.

"_Hello? This is Planned Parenthood._"

"Ha-ha." I said dryly. "Do you ever answer the phone like a normal human being?"

"_I like to think of myself as a performer_." Sting replied. What an ass. "_Anyway, what's up? You still trying to marry that 100 year old proctologist?"_

"He died, actually." I informed him. It was tragic. That old geezer died a millionaire and I was so close to marrying him for the profits. Too little, too late.

"_How tragic. Guess you'll die a spinster, then._"

I scoffed. "You know, that wouldn't have to happen if you'd just agree to marry me for the tax breaks."

"_As much as I adore your company, marrying you would be as close to rock bottom as I want to get." _

I rolled my eyes and leaned my head back, almost forgetting why I called him in the first place.

"Are you going to be in town the weekend of June 16th?"

He paused on the line, as if in deep thought.

"_I'm in Switzerland right now. I was planning on staying through August, but if you need something…."_

Switzerland? Was he fucking kidding?

"What the hell are you doing in Switzerland?"

"_A reeeeaaaallllyy attractive billionaire. Why?"_

God damn it. "Gold digger. Jesus."

"_I'm sorry, were we not __**just **__discussing your almost marriage to the older-than-dirt doctor for his money? Pot, meet ket-"_

"Yeah, yeah, okay I get it." I huffed, examining my blunt nails with disinterest. "Anyway, Natsu and Lucy's wedding is that weekend, and I need a plus one to avoid eternal shame."

"_Natsu and Lucy? Seriously? I always thought Jellal and Erza would get married before them."_

I shrugged, knowing that he couldn't see me. Erza and Jellal had been cohabiting for the past four years, and they didn't seem to have any wedding plans in the future. It was practical of them, what with Jellal still in school and Erza working full time. If anything, I imagined they would elope and just have a courthouse marriage without telling anyone.

"It doesn't really matter anyway. Will you be my plus one, or are you going to blow me off for a Swiss guy with a Porsche?" I asked impatiently.

He hesitated before answering. "_Yeah, I can make the commute. But you owe me."_

The nerve! "_I _owe _you?_ I'm sorry, are we forgetting that time I bailed you out of jail for _solicitation _you psycho!" I whisper-yelled into the phone.

"_That was a set-up and you know it you little slut! And need I remind you I was found not guilty by a jury of my peers?"_

"There was no jury, drama queen. They dropped the charges - why am I even talking about this? You owe me, you're doing this for me!" I contested hotly.

"_Fine, fine! God. You gonna spank me when I get back, mistress?_"

I let the BDSM joke slide and just rolled my eyes. "Bring me back some Swiss chocolate, alright, dick-for-brains?"

"_Only if you introduce me to some sexy surgeons. I'm thinking a hybrid cross between Mark Sloan and Jackson Avery."_

I bit the inside of my cheek. "If you reference Grey's Anatomy one more time, I'm gonna stab you in the eye."

"_The low-hanging fruit sometimes tastes the best."_

"I don't think that's how the saying goes." I responded flatly.

"_Apples and Pineapples, Juvia." _

I blanched. "Again, I don't think-"

"_Shhhh. Don't fight it. My wit is unmatched."_

"Uh-huh." I mumbled noncommittally. He was silent for a moment, which was always a bad sign when it came to Sting.

"_So...I have to ask...is your 'old flame' gonna be there?"_

I clicked my tongue. "I don't know who you're referring to."

"_Oh because you have soooo many ex boyfriends."_

"Watch it!" I growled. I know I only clocked in about 3 total boyfriends, but that didn't mean he had to be an ass about it. And 3 wasn't even that bad!

"_Alright, alright, jeez. Touchy subject. Obviously I'm talking about Gray Fullbuster, who you pined after for...let's see...two FUCKING years and all of high school. And that's low-balling it."_

Pissed, I fell back onto the couch in my apartment's living room and sighed.

"You're exaggerating. I pined over him for a _year, _AT BEST." I retorted. Gray and I had what you'd call a _complicated __relationship_. I'd spent the last year building my life in Crocus, so I had to sidebar my kinda-sorta-almost relationship with Gray.

A year ago, we had told each other that it wouldn't be the end. That I'd call him when i was done dicking around and being a total fucking moron.

That time never came. Surprise, surprise, I could work on myself all I wanted, but at the end of the day, I was still a fucking coward.

"_Still pathetic, sweetheart. To be fair, your dating life only went downhill after him."_

I could've smacked him through the phone, however right he may have been. In college, I dated a guy named Bora for a year before realizing he was a useless scumbag and dumped him. Then there was this other guy...but he was so pathetic I didn't even want to go into the details.

But Gray…

"Fine. It's a _little _pathetic, but can you blame me?" I asked rhetorically. The years had treated Gray Fullbuster with _extreme _kindness, which I knew for a fact because I stalked his Instagram pretty frequently. That man in a suit and tie….

"_No, I can't. But I can make fun of you for it."_

"Some friend. You know, I once went to some _very _shady places just to get you some information on that hot Quiznos guy who turned out to be 37."

"_He was 36! And I said thank you!"_

"Also that time you took my uber so you could meet up with that catfish you met on Grindr…"

"_Am I being cross-examined here? We get it! I'm a bad friend and I'll be your wedding date you little snake!"_

I laughed and shook my head. "Thank youuu."

"_God. Listen, I gotta go. Alessandro is about to show me the wonders of whipped cream."_

I wrinkled my nose. "I don't want to know the details."

"_Well, I'll CC you anyway."_

I groaned loudly. "I know you will."

"_Alright, I'll call you later."_

"Bye dumbshit."

"_Bye cockgoblin_."

I hung up on Sting and let myself bask in our conversation. I really missed seeing him in person. We talked pretty frequently, because I valued his terrible advice, but it would be nice to see him in person for the wedding. And there was no one I'd rather spend a judgmental evening with than him.

Well. _Almost _no one else.

.

.

.

"I can't believe she's actually leaving the apartment."

Minerva wasn't subtle. Ever. In fact, I think she invented the word subtle just so she could crush it beneath her heel.

"Be nice, Minnie." Yukino chided. "You look incredible, Juvia."

"Thanks Yuki," I appreciated, checking out my ass in our mirror. I was wearing an amazing pair of black leggings that made my body look like it was poured into them . To be fair, I only looked good because of Yukino, who dragged me to her kickboxing classes at the YMCA pretty frequently. A great way to shape my legs and also unleash my unchecked festering rage.

Yukino gave me a half smile and a wistful look. "I can't believe you're going to Natsu and Lucy's wedding. I'm almost jealous."

I side-eyed her. "Jealous? You realize this is basically going to be a high school reunion for me, right?"

Yukino shrugged and picked a piece of lint off my sweater. "Maybe, but you were popular in high school, so it won't be that painful."

"_Popular_?" I heard myself and Minerva echo at the same time. I glared at her, not appreciating the criticism, and swiveled back to Yukino. "In what world was I _popular_?"

Last I checked, I pretty much exclusively kept to myself in high school, save my fifteen minutes of high school fame I spent dating Gray the summer after senior year. Which was technically _post _graduation.

Yukino scoffed. "Seriously? You were friends with Lucy Heartfilia. She was the prettiest girl in our grade. You also hung around with Natsu, and Gray, obviously-"

I waved my hands in front of my face. "Okay, I'll give you points for Gray. But Natsu? I don't know if I ever said anything remotely nice to Natsu in my high school career. Post high school was when Natsu and I's relationship flourished. And Lucy…"

I thought about what Yukino said. I always considered Erza to be the prettiest girl in our grade, but I suppose Lucy was up there as well. "Well, Lucy was just nice. I think you're remembering things weird."

Yukino looked at me funny. "Oh, come on! You were invited to every party the summer after we graduated. I saw you on _everyone's _Snapchat stories."

I mentally cringed. That had been a pretty wild summer, and I was positive the Snapchat stories she was referring to were nothing short of embarrassing.

"Again. That was because of Gray." I reiterated. Not like anyone would've invited me if I wasn't Gray's arm candy.

Minerva made a noise in agreement and Yukino didn't look like she was going to argue with me.

"Whatever you say. I had the biggest crush on Lucy in high school, you know. I was too shy to talk to her, though." Yukino admitted.

Minerva blanched. "The _fuck _you did! I'll beat the fuck out of this Lucy character-"

"Relax, Min. Lucy's as straight as they come, tragically enough." I informed my roommate before she spiralled out of control. Minerva looked only slightly pacified by my comment, but put the subject to rest.

"Obviously so." Yukino agreed, gesturing to the wedding invitation. "Anyways, you're going with Sting Eucliffe, right? He was a jock."

"Not a very good one." I huffed. He was late picking me up, to no surprise. We had decided to go in together on a hotel room near the area of the wedding, considering it was a three hour commute from the city.

"Sounds like you're in denial." Yukino hummed. "Anyways, do you have everything packed and ready?"

I nodded, gesturing to my cheap suitcase. I was packed with a cute dress for the wedding, and then ugly pajamas for when Sting and I got back to the hotel room post-wedding, probably a little bit shitfaced.

As if reading my mind, Minerva cocked an eyebrow. "You aren't planning on getting _completely _sloshed, are you?"

I shrugged. Getting drunk out of my mind wasn't exactly on the agenda, but who knows how many long islands I'd consume when confronted with my high school friend's successes and their obnoxiously happy lives. "Sting'll keep me from going too crazy." An obvious lie.

Minerva and Yukino shared a look, like they'd talked about my drinking habits before. Minerva liked to point out that I spent almost every weekend in nursing school completely crocked. I always reminded her that she spent those weekends with me doing the exact same thing.

"Try to stay away from Four Loko, at the very least." Minerva gave me a wicked grin and I pretended to gag. Four Loko tended to make a lot of unattractive people extremely tempting, to say the least.

"Strictly margaritas, then. Scout's honor." I promised.

"Oh, Juvia." Yukino sighed. "Maybe you'll find a nice guy at the wedding, who knows?"

Minerva cackled. She knew all too well the existence of Gray Fullbuster pretty much damned my chances of a wedding hookup. I'd be too distracted by his pretty face to even bother with any of Natsu's and Lucy's relatives, or god forbid some of Natsu's college friends.

"I wouldn't count on it." I huffed, glaring at Minerva. A knock on the door interrupted before I could further condemn myself.

I opened the door for Sting, who didn't even bother greeting me. He was dressed like a bad Fashion Nova instagram ad, and he traipsed into my apartment like he'd lived there his whole life.

"Love what you've done with the place," he said off-handedly to Yukino. He knew full well she was the only one of us who would take the time to decorate the apartment. Minerva and I had zero talent for interior decorating, so Yukino naturally took over for us.

"Twink." Minerva greeted. Sting's eyes narrowed at her, before grinning.

"Love the wlw/mlm solidarity from you, Minerva." He affirmed, very used to her tongue-lashings. I rolled my eyes. "Yukino. It's been...a long time."

Yukino grimaced. "I'll say. Remember when you stole my prom date and then made out with him?"

Sting puckered his lips and looked down at the floor. "Well. Possibly."

Yukino rolled her eyes. "You're just lucky that we went as friends, or I wouldn't be so forgiving."

I intercepted before Sting could get a well-deserved tongue lashing from one of the nicest girls I'd ever met.

"Can we go? Pretty sure Yukino and Minerva want to take advantage of my rare absence." I informed Sting. He nodded in agreement.

"True. You're basically a hermit." He criticized. "This is a gift from God as far as you two are concerned." He directed at Minerva and Yukino, who nodded in agreement.

"Fuck's sake," I cursed, "can we just go before y'all decide to tear me a new vagina?"

"_Alright_, jeez. Lighten up a bit. We're gonna get _wasted_!" Sting celebrated, before taking my suitcase and heading out the door.

"See you Monday, Juvia!" Yukino waved.

"Try not to embarrass yourself!" Minerva added.

Yeah. this weekend was not going to go well for me.

.

.

.

"God. Could these freaks be any more basic?"

I elbowed Sting in the solar plexus. As if we weren't surrounded by close friends and family of Natsu and Lucy. Just because they had chosen a Catholic chapel as their marriage location didn't make them _basic._

"Have a little class." I bit out. Him wearing a deep violet suit and tie and slicking his hair back was already drawing a lot of attention to us, but badmouthing the bride and groom would definitely get our asses kicked out.

I was extremely nervous. I had yet to see anyone I recognized, and bringing Sting might've turned out to be an incredible mistake. I should've called Gajeel. He would've at least stayed relatively tame, but it was my guess that Levy was also invited to the wedding, and I wouldn't dare cock-block their relationship. I was stuck with Sting.

"Do _not _embarrass me." I instructed. Sting looked at me with appraisal.

"As if I could embarrass you when that dress is already doing my job for me."

My jaw dropped. "You said you liked it!" I accused. My deep purple cocktail dress was simplistic, but cute! I was sure of it! He was just being a dickhead.

"I _obviously _lied. You look good in white, why didn't you wear white?" Sting argued. "Not to mention _I _look good in white, so then our color coordination would've been perfect."

I could've bashed him over the head with my adorable black heels.

"Were you _born _an idiot, or did you just naturally assume the position? It's a _wedding_, you stupid fuck!" I whisper-screamed, trying not to draw attention to ourselves as we argued in front of the chapel.

"Your point being…?" He drawled, like he seriously had no idea what I was talking about. Idiot. I swear.

Just as I was about to beat the hell out of my wedding date, I heard footsteps approaching us from behind. I plastered a fake smile on my face and turned around, ready to pretend to be pleasant. My face dropped the instant I saw who it was.

"Do mine ears deceive me, or did I hear the lovely criticism of miss Juvia Lockser?"

I grinned. "Jellal. Can you _please _inform my date why it's wrong to wear white to a wedding before I verbally smite him?"

Jellal, far too familiar with my antics, opted to hug me instead. He smelt like warm cinnamon, and he was dressed in a classy suit and tie that made me wish I had him as a date instead of the supreme king of blonds.

"It's been too long. You look great." He told me. "You too, Sting."

Sting checked him out in approval. "You just get finer and finer every year, don't you?"

Jellal chuckled. He started to say something else, but I didn't register it, because if Jellal was here, I knew who must be right behind him.

I could barely conceal my excitement to see Erza. And I was right to hold my breath, because as usual, she blew me away.

Her red velvet hair was tucked into a relatively complicated updo, and she had a vibrant red dress on that made her look like a literal angel. God, I could cry. She was so unbelievably hot, it made me want to melt into the sidewalk.

I was hugging her before I even knew what I was doing. "God, I missed you!"

She laughed and hugged me back. "I'm glad you made it on time. I was half expecting you and Sting to arrive unfashionably late."

I pulled away so I could admire Erza some more while Sting made some half-assed attempt to defend himself before her. The years had treated Erza and Jellal incredibly well. Erza was unbelievably fit, and she wore heels like I wore scrubs: religiously.

"You look beautiful." She said to me, and I could have cried. A compliment from Erza was like heroin to me. I sputtered some nonsense in response and she smiled.

"We should grab some seats before Lucy's sorority sisters completely fill the church." Jellal remarked off-handedly. That's right, Lucy had been a sorority girl. And Natsu was a fraternity guy. They were truly a match made by the CW.

"Okay, but we're sitting near the back. We wouldn't want the entire congregation to get a front row seat of Juvia's massive pores." Sting nonchalantly pointed out.

"Oh really? I think we'd have more luck in the front row. The less people who see your gigantic five-head, the better, am I right?" I retorted. Sting's forehead was a soft spot for him and he had the gall to look offended by my little jab.

"Ladies, please." Jellal whistled. "Take the catfight down a couple of notches."

I glared at Sting and followed Erza and Jellal into the church. I was surprised that Lucy and Natsu had settled on a church wedding, both of them seemed to be the outdoors-y type, but apparently the allure of tradition had been too strong for them to overcome.

We ended up sitting closer to the back, mainly because Lucy's sorority sisters had already invaded the cathedral. Lucy and Natsu didn't have that much family attending, so it was a majority friend-wedding, but it didn't matter, because Lucy and Natsu were the type to make friends wherever they went.

"If I had a dollar for every girl in this church named Brittany, I'd probably have at least 14 dollars." Sting mused while looking at the crowd of giggling young women. "Oh look, there's Natsu's dad up at the front. I always thought he was _really _ho-"

"This is a place of God, you heathen." I elbowed him sharply. Hitting on the father of the groom on the wedding day was one disaster I could do without.

"Oh my god," Erza whispered into my ear. "Three o'clock."

My eyes flipped directly to my right to see what, or more precisely, who, she wanted me to see.

It was the Strauss siblings. They really were the perfect trio. That platinum blond hair was absolutely striking, especially from Lisanna's older sister, Mirajane. Mira was like a work of art, like she had been designed in a laboratory by a bunch of horny teens with unrealistic expectations of what the female body was supposed to look like.

And Lisanna. Her hair was a bit longer, cut just above her shoulders. She wore a deep burgundy that made her deep blue eyes really pop. I waved at her enthusiastically and she grinned back.

They went to sit closer to the front with a few of their other friends, and I continued to sit with bated breath.

I had a sneaking suspicion my other high school friends were in the wedding, specifically Levy. She was almost undoubtedly a bridesmaid, if not the maid of honor. Which meant Gajeel probably got roped into the ceremony as well. I was excited to see him. Most of my contact with him came from ungodly long facetime sessions where I would update him on how my life was going. Our last facetime was a record breaking eight and a half hours.

I glanced at my phone. It was 11:03. The ceremony was supposed to start in less than a half an hour.

I looked at the crowds of people, who didn't seem that none of the people in the wedding were standing in the front of the church yet. It was probably fairly standard, anyway. Few weddings went by without a single hitch.

Where was everyone?

"Um...I gotta go pee." I said to Sting, Erza, and Jellal. They looked at me weird, like '_seriously? Can't you hold it?'_

I squeezed past them anyway, but instead of pulling a left to the bathrooms, I headed straight down the hall to where I assumed the people in the wedding were preparing.

I knew I was being nosy, but it was in my nature. Plus I could always blame my eavesdropping on getting lost on the way to the bathroom.

Just as I was about to press my ear inconspicuously to a door, someone pushed open the door and walked out, wringing her hands nervously.

"Levy?" I asked, wondering if she had even seen me. She appeared distraught enough to neglect her surroundings.

Her soft brown eyes focused on me. She was wearing a beautiful sleeveless lavender dress, and tall heels that brought her closer to a staggering 5'2".

"Juvia? Oh my god." She exclaimed, and before I could say anything, she barreled into me, squeezing my waist like I was her lifeline. "Thank god you're here! I could use your help…

"Levy? What's going on…" I marveled, looking over her shoulder to see what was going on behind the closed door.

"It's...um…" She stammered, her pointed finger in her mouth as she nibbled on her finely manicured nails. It was a nervous tick of hers...something was wrong.

"Levy." I repeated, more sternly.

"Just...come on," she grabbed my wrist and pulled me forward, through the doors she had just burst through.

Inside, I was bombarded by the voices of about 8 different people. Some familiar, some not. They were all women, and I realized we must've been in the bride's preparation room. A veil sat on a hook by a mirror, which must've belonged to of the women turned to me and started whispering their words, like what they were talking about was top-secret. Someone approached me and Levy, and I realized it was Lucy's aunt.

"Levy, what's the plan?" She asked. Levy bit her lip again.

I looked around again, this time taking note of everything I was seeing. And there was one very important detail that was missing.

Levy turned to me before I could voice my observation.

"It's Lucy. She's gone."

My mouth opened, and then shut again.

"What?"

Levy sighed, like this was the tenth time she was explaining this. "The wedding party - we all took a limo here from Natsu and Lucy's house. Lucy stayed behind because she said she had to do something - I didn't think that she wouldn't...well…"

I blinked, absorbing the story carefully. Lucy had stayed behind? And Natsu had let her?

"Does Natsu know?" I asked cautiously.

Levy shook her head. "I've been stalling, I thought she'd show before now, but…"

I tried to think about this logically while listening to Levy speak. Normally she'd be the one to break this down logically, but I could see that Levy was hanging on by a thread. She needed help. She felt responsible for this, I just knew it.

I reached forward and took her by the shoulders. "Levy. Listen to me. We're going to figure this out." I told her reassuringly.

It was weird how in control I felt, like the logical person honor had fallen to me once Levy was out of the picture.

I noticed Lucy's aunt calling Lucy's phone. They must've been calling her nonstop for at least the past hour.

"Keep calling Lucy." I instructed. The other girls in the room didn't look like they'd be much help to us, a couple of them were crying. "Levy, let's go tell Natsu. He'll probably know where she is, and we can go pick her up."

Levy nodded. She was on the verge of tears, but she was holding it together pretty well, considering the circumstances.

"I'm sure Lucy is fine." I reminded her gently. "She probably just got held up somewhere. Maybe she forgot her phone, too."

Even though I was saying the words, I hardly believed them myself. Lucy Heartfilia was a dreamer if I ever saw one. She had planned her wedding since high school, down to every last detail. If she wasn't at the ceremony, there had to be a pretty significant reason as to why she was absent. And it _wasn't _cold feet. That was completely out of the question.

There was also the factor that Lucy was diabetic. If she wasn't responding to phone calls, it was possible that something had happened to her, medically speaking. I cursed myself for not bringing my emergency nursing kit with me, which had some insulin in it.

Levy and I exited the room and speed-walked into the hallway. Levy lead the way into the groom's preparation room.

It suddenly hit me that the groom and his men weren't out in the chapel. The only reason they wouldn't be out there would be if something went wrong for them, too...

Oh, fuck.

Levy knocked on the door urgently. There was a beat of silence, and the hurried voices inside the room quieted. The door cracked open.

Gajeel's face peeked through the door. He looked relieved to see that it was me and Levy.

"Hey Levy. Jubie. Listen, we _know _we're running a little late, but there's a _tiny, _itty-bitty problem-"

Levy's face dropped. "_What? _Gajeel, are you serious? This CANNOT be happening, oh my _god_-"

Gajeel looked confused, and turned to me for clarification.

I cleared my throat. "Um...can we speak to Natsu? It's important."

Gajeel's eyes widened. "Um...give me a sec." He shut the door. Levy continued to hyperventilate. I rubbed her shoulders comfortingly, but even I didn't have any words to encourage her. This was a total fucking shitshow.

The door opened again. It was Gajeel. "We need a few more minutes."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I whispered angrily. "This _cannot _wait. Let me through." I solved the door open, knocking Gajeel in the jaw. Levy followed me through the door to see a group of men surrounding the groom.

_Ah. Now I see what the problem is. _

Natsu smiled at me guiltily, soot covering his otherwise handsome face. The white undershirt of his suit and tie was also covered in black grime. It looked like a firecracker exploded on him.

"Hi Juvia." He croaked, like he knew I was seconds from chewing his ass out.

It was then that my world came into focus. Standing next to Natsu, staring at me, was Gray Fullbuster.

Oh. Greeeaat. Just what I needed.

He looked a thousand times more attractive than I remembered. His dark hair was still that perfect combination of messy and neat, his dark eyes mysterious and fanned by dark lashes. Fuck. Instagram did _not _do him justice. He was a complete modern marvel.

The world froze for a few more seconds. I noticed he was holding a lighter in his hand, the hand that was facing away from Natsu. Just what the fuck had happened here?

_Alright. Time to focus, Juvia. You can stare at Gray when Lucy isn't MIA and Natsu isn't slightly toasted. _

"Are you _fucking _kidding me?" I repeated again, so all the groomsmen could hear me. They at least had the decency to look ashamed.

And Gray...was smiling at me. He was smiling at me the way old friends smiled when they were reunited. I couldn't hold back my blush. But I _could _choose to ignore it.

"I'm sorry! It was an accident! _Please _don't tell Lucy, she'll kill me!" Natsu begged. I could barely take him seriously while he looked like a Looney Tune.

Levy paled and I bit my lip. Natsu didn't seem to notice our facial expressions, because he continued to babble about how sorry he was and how it was all an accident.

"Juvia," I heard Gray's voice say to me. I almost passed out. His deep tenor voice was totally electrifying. If I wasn't in a dire situation right now, I probably would've made a poor decision.

I turned to look at him. He stared back, a look of concern passed over his handsome features.

"What's wrong?" He asked. Ugh. He could always read me so well.

"It's Lucy." I spoke. "She's...missing."

The groomsmen fell silent. Natsu especially. A look of total and complete hurt flashed across his face, and if I'd have blinked, I would have missed it. His face turned serious.

"What the hell does that _mean_?" He growled, approaching me carefully. Whoa. For a moment, I could swear he was going to strangle me. Hadn't he heard of the phrase _don't shoot the messenger_?

Gray's arm shot out in front of Natsu, preventing him from coming any closer to me and Levy. My concern was warranted, then, if even Gray had picked up on it.

"She never came back." Levy said quickly. "We've been calling her nonstop - Natsu, she's not answering. I...I think something is wrong."

Natsu stepped back, like he'd been struck. His face was completely shattered, like someone had taken his heart and ran it over with a steamroller. Gray looked stricken, too. He grabbed Natsu's shoulder, as if to steady him.

"Natsu," I prodded, my voice gentle. "You know her best. Where could she be? Where would she go?"

Natsu was silent. His eyes were wide, and his breathing was ragged, like he'd just lost a vital organ. And maybe he had.

"I…" he trailed off, shaking his head like he couldn't believe this was happening. "I know a few places. But..._fuck. _I didn't bring a car - the limo isn't scheduled to pick us up until 1:00."

I rolled my eyes. "_I'll _drive, dingus. Let's go."

"Wait," Gray interceded, tightening his grip on Natsu's shoulder. "I don't think you should go."

Nasu tore his face to look at Gray with a harsh glare. "What? Are you insane, dickface? That's my _wife_, I have to go-"

Gray rolled his eyes, Natsu's words ineffective. "_Think_ for a second, dumbass. I know you're upset, but this is Lucy we're talking about. This is where she's probably headed. You need to stay here in case she comes back."

"That's fucking stupid! I'll just-"

"Gray is right." I interrupted him, my eyes meeting Gray's for a moment before I could continue. "You stay here. Natsu, she's probably trying to get back here - to _you_. I'll go out and scout the locations."

"I'm going with you." Gray said, immediately. Ordinarily, I would've agreed, due to my extreme thirst for him. But this was more important than my horniness, by far.

"No," I sent him a sharp look. "You stay here too. I'm not in the wedding, if Lucy comes back here, you all need to be here to get this show on the road."

Gray grinned at me. It was a suspicious grin. It was the grin he used to give me whenever he had the upper hand.

"I'm not taking no for an answer." He said simply.

_Did he not hear my perfect logic? What is this beautiful man's deal with wrecking all of my perfectly constructed plans._

"Take Gray." Natsu said. He had been eerily silent for a while. He looked like he was still going to fight me on the plan of leaving to find Lucy, but maybe I was wrong. "Gray knows where some of the places are, and you're not familiar with the area anymore." Natsu reasoned. "Plus, the wedding can go on without him."

Gray made a half-smile at Natsu's jab. Natsu didn't have the heart to smile back.

I didn't want to concede, but the evidence was stacked against me. All of the groomsmen stared at me, waiting for me to say something.

"I…" I did not want to spend alone time with Gray. When I was alone with Gray, I couldn't trust myself. Horny Juvia was a total monster who had no prioties whatsoever except...well, you know. "...Fine. Text me the locations, and keep us posted." I looked at Levy, and she nodded.

"I'll stall the ceremony." She confirmed, grabbing Gajeel by the arm.

I turned to leave, but Natsu grabbed my forearm harshly.

"Juvia, wait." He requested. I paused, and Gray moved to stand beside me, considering he was going to be my co-pilot. Natsu moved into the back of the room and dug through a duffel bag that I presumed was his. He pulled out a small black vinyl bag and shoved it into my hands, like he was handing me his lifeblood.

"It's her supplies." He explained. "I always keep some with me, just in case. I can teach you how to use it-"

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "Natsu. I'm a nurse." I reminded him, taking the bag and pressing it to my chest.

He pulled back. "Oh - right." He looked sheepish, but I smiled softly at him.

"Stop worrying. Lucy will be back in this chapel if it's the last thing I do." I promised him. He gave me a grateful smile.

"Let's go," Gray announced, his arm holding the door open for me. Right. We needed to get going.

I pointed at Natsu. "Locations. And, keep me posted on whether or not she shows up here."

He gave me a half-hearted thumbs up. "Same goes for you."

I smiled lightly, then I turned back to Gray, who was staring at me expectedly.

_Well. I'm fucked._

I passed through the door he was holding open, and he followed me out through the hallway. I could hear the thrumming noise of confused guests in the cathedral. Fuck. We needed to hurry.

"How close are you parked?" Gray asked impatiently. I blinked. _Fuck. _I had forgotten that _technically _I didn't have a car. Sting had a car.

"Um…" I began, chewing on my lip nervously.

Gray eyed me, before muttering something under his breath. "_Juvia. _What did you do?"

I tried not to look offended. "What do you mean? I didn't do anything! I just have to...grab something really quick."

He stared at me. I turned away to avoid his heated gaze. Could he be any _less_ attractive, for the sake of my mental health?

I slid into the pews of the cathedral, in search of my salvation. Gray followed me closely. I spotted my friends towards the back and tried to look subtle when I squeezed in next to them.

"Sting," I started, but before I could finish my thought, he attacked me.

"Juvia? What the fuck? What the hell were you doing, douching yourself? And what's going on-" Sting cut himself off when he noticed Gray standing behind me, unimpressed. I was mortified. Of _course _he had to embarrass me, now of all times.

"Sting, just shut the hell up and give me your phone!" I whisper-shouted. "It's an emergency!"

Sting looked at me, wide-eyed. "Uh oh...do you have a UTI?"

"Fuck's sake," I snapped, reaching forward and yanking his phone out of his hand. "I'll be back. Don't move!"

Erza grabbed my hand. "Juvia, what's going on? Are you ok?"

I wanted to explain to her, but I couldn't waste any more time.

"I'll explain later! Just trust me." I told her. She released me without a second thought.

Gray and I ran out of the cathedral, my heels clicking against the pavement. I spotted Sting's car in the back corner of the lot.

Gray whistled when he saw Sting's car. "Damn. This isn't your car, is it?"

I glared at him. Just because Sting had a nice car didn't mean it wasn't mine. Well. I guess it did. But still!

"It's Sting's." I answered curtly. I used my thumb, which was already programmed into Sting's phone, to unlock the Tesla app so I could unlock the car.

"Damn, is this a model 3?" Gray asked, like he had forgotten that we were on the hunt for a runaway bride.

"Yes! Now get the hell in!" I yelled, ripping the car door open and sliding into the driver's seat.

Gray hesitated. "Wait...if this isn't your car...are you sure you should drive?"

I looked at him incredulously. Was he insane? "Yes! Why wouldn't I drive?"

He looked at me pointedly. My jaw dropped. Ass! Just because he thought I was a terrible driver while we were dating didn't mean I was _still _a terrible driver!

Well, to be honest, I was sort of out of practice. In the city, I took the bus everywhere. I hadn't driven in maybe a year and a half.

So what? It'd be a learning curve.

"Gray! Just get the hell in the car!" I yelled.

"Fine." He agreed icily. "But if you suck, we're switching after the first stop."

"Have a little faith." I told him. "How hard can it be?"

I pressed the gas pedal of Sting's Tesla and we shot backwards. Gray's forehead slammed against the dash.

I paused, slamming my foot on the brake so I could evaluate our status and make sure Gray didn't have a concussion.

Gray stared at me, a fiery look in his eyes. I offered him a guilty smile. Before I could apologize, he spoke.

"Get out."

My mouth opened. And then shut again.

"Fine."

We switched positions and I pouted in the passenger seat. He was lucky he was so cute, or else I wouldn't have caved.

The minute we were switched and settled, Gray took off. He drove the car pretty smoothly, too. Smug bastard.

"Where to first?" He asked me. I studied my phone, looking at the list of places Natsu had sent to me. There were five places he had listed, five stops. Hopefully less, I was still holding onto the hope that Lucy would just show up late to the chapel and we'd be home free.

"Juvia?" Gray repeated. We were on the road now, and he needed direction. But before I would tell him anything…

I reached across Gray's chest quickly and grabbed his seat belt, pulling it swiftly over his body and fastening it. I hated that he never buckled his seat belt. When we were dating, he'd never buckle, and I always thought it was because he liked to make me lean over and do it for him.

He looked at me, shocked that i actually went ahead and did it. Maybe he was thinking about the same thing. Maybe he missed me buckling his seat belt for him.

Or maybe he just thought I was a fucking weird ex-girlfriend with no sense of boundaries.

Yeah. probably the latter.

"Um. It's Osaka." I told him quickly, trying to fill the void that sat between us. Gray blinked, before nodding.

Osaka, according to Natsu, was Lucy's favorite sushi place. She'd go there when she was stressed, and it was possible she made a pit stop there before the wedding and got stranded.

Gray hit the gas and we were on our way. From the look on his face, he was enjoying driving Sting's fancy car a little too much.

I stared out the window, trying not to think about the situation we found ourselves in. I had planned my meeting with Gray meticulously, it would entail of me bumping into him and being adorable, and telling him I was ready to talk to him again. To see if we really were compatible and if we needed to give dating another shot. So far I was batting zero.

I wondered what he had been up to. How the business world was treating him. He obviously _looked _good - but did he _feel _good, too?

"Juvia." Gray said suddenly, interrupting my little soliloquy. Rude.

"Hm?" I hummed, turning to look at him. He wasn't facing me, but I could still tell his attention was on me. Reading Gray Fullbuster was all about the details.

"What are you thinking so hard about?" He asked. I could tell he was genuinely interested. I tried not to blush. It was empowering knowing that Gray was still interested in my thought processes.

"You mean, aside from the fact that my friend is missing the best day of her life?" I asked rhetorically.

"Obviously." he replied.

I paused. Should I actually tell him? Or should I stretch the truth?

"I'm thinking…" I trailed off, watching our surroundings pass us by. "That this wasn't how I pictured this day going."

He was silent, absorbing my words, before he spoke again. "How did you picture it going?"

I sighed. "Happier." I paused again before adding, "and easier."

"For you?" He wondered.

"For us," I corrected, before I could stop myself.

_FUCK I'm an idiot. I did not just use the word 'us'._

"Us?" Gray asked, turning his eyes away from the road to look at me with surprise.

My face flushed. "I mean, for everyone! Like. Us as in everyone." I corrected.

Fuck. Now he thought I was a selfish asshole, only concerned with my history with him over the safety of my friend.

"Uh-huh." He turned back to focus on the road. I looked down at Sting's phone, desperate for a distraction. How fucking far away from this damn sushi restaurant were we? It felt like it had been an hour.

I looked at the clock on the phone. It was only 11:30, the time the wedding was supposed to start. We'd been in the car for like 3 minutes. Fuck.

"I missed you."

My head shot up and I almost gave myself whiplash. The fuck had he just said?

"Are you serious?" I asked, half in disbelief and half in awe that he would dare try and talk about us while we were trying to search for Lucy.

"Yes." He said, not a trace of guilt in his voice. "Did you?"

My jaw dropped at his audacity. Was it business school that made him this bold? For a moment, I regretted helping him achieve his dream.

"Are you serious? Right _now_, of all times, Gray?" I opted to say instead. I was not about to embarrass myself in Sting's Tesla and tell him how much I _really _missed him. How if he asked me right now, I'd drop everything and move to be closer to him. That no other boyfriend had compared to him. How I'd missed him since the day I left for college six years ago.

"If not now, when? I haven't been alone with you in a year." He explained. I shuddered. I knew what he was referring to. Last year I had basically told him with my mouth that I wanted to be with him, and then never followed through.

I could've told him a million excuses, how I worked graveyard shifts and my life had basically been complete and utter chaos since I moved to Crocus, and that I wanted to wait for the perfect moment to call him. The perfect moment never came, obviously, because perfect moments didn't fucking exist.

"Gray, we-" I stopped abruptly. "We have something to do, here. Can we do this later?"

He sighed heavily. "Will there even _be _a later? It's like every time we make an inch of progress, you take fifty steps backwards."

I looked down at my shoes, noticing his use of the word _you_ instead of _us. _I had no idea if there would be a later. I didn't want to lie to him, but I also didn't want to talk about us while we were trying to find Lucy.

"We're here." Gray spoke up, pulling into the parking lot of the sushi place.

_Oh thank god._

I opened the car door and launched myself out, hurrying to the entrance of Osaka. Gray was close behind.

We walked up to the host, who eyed us weirdly. I suppose most people didn't show up to Osaka in full glam.

"Hello. Have you seen this woman here?" I asked, pulling up a photo of Lucy I'd snagged off of facebook. The host spared the photo a glance and shrugged.

"I don't know. You can take a look around if you want." The host responded. The poor guy probably didn't get paid enough to memorize the face of every patron. Gray did not share my sympathy.

"Are you kidding me? Either she was here, or she wasn't." Gray said harshly. The host shrugged.

"Sorry. Don't recognize her." The host responded simply.

I let out a defeated sigh and checked my messages. Nothing. I texted Natsu that she wasn't at Osaka and we were on our way to the next location.

"Fuck." Gray uttered. I felt the same. Defeated.

Where the hell could Lucy be? I scanned Natsu's list again. It was mostly places Lucy went when she was feeling stressed or nervous. Also listed was their house, in case she was still trapped at home.

We got back into the car. The atmosphere had shifted.

"Where to next?" Gray implored. I stared at the list of locations, but my nurse's intuition told me we needed to go to their home first.

"Let's go to their house." I suggested. Gray nodded. He put the Tesla into gear and we were off, again.

The fact that Gray knew where they lived well enough told me that he visited often. And if he visited often, he must have lived close.

"Do you visit often?" I decided to ask. Hopefully he would give me enough information to determine his approximate place of living.

I probably could've just asked him outright where he was living now, but I was a pussy.

"I only live 25 minutes out, so, yeah." He answered. He smiled knowingly. Crap. He knew I was prying for information. I should've known I couldn't get anything past him.

"Closer to the city?" I added. Might as well pry further.

He nodded. Ugh. That meant he lived three hours from where I did after all. Part of me always hoped he would've moved closer to me, for selfish reasons, obviously.

"You're still in Crocus, right?" He asked, like he already knew the answer. I had to keep myself from grinning. So he _was _keeping tabs on me. Interesting.

"That's right. I'm a big shot." I informed him.

"That makes two of us." He responded. My eyebrows raised. I had been dying to ask him how his business ventures had been going. It was cruel of him to dangle the answer in front of my face.

He noticed me glaring at him and only smiled in response. Dick.

"Fine." I relayed. "Please grace me with the details of your lifestyle."

"Was that so hard?" He relented.

I bit the inside of my cheek. Ass.

"If you must know," he began. He was going to draw this out, I could already tell. "I work with _Alvarez_ now, actually. I have a couple pet projects on the side, as well. I'll spare you the details of my investments, since I know you don't speak stock market." He ended his speech with a jab at my expense. It was a fair jab, because I didn't know shit about finances.

"I thought you were with _Avatar_?" I asked, wrinkling my nose. From what I'd heard about Alvarez, it was some shady business practices. Avatar wasn't much better, but it was less well known for its scandals.

He shrugged. "I got headhunted."

"Oooh, you _are _a bigshot!" I exclaimed. "Tell me, how does it feel to be a member of the bourgeoisie?"

"Well, as a former member of the proletariat, I'm ashamed. But, as a current member of the bourgeoisie, I'm quite pleased." He played along. "What about you? How is St. Hiyashi?"

St. Hiyashi was the hospital I worked at, perhaps one of the most advanced in all of Fiore. I didn't move three hours from all of my friends for no reason. It was cute he knew where I worked.

"Insane. I work the ER floor now instead of peds." I tried not to let my insane smile overtake my face. "I am now renowned for my gross medical stories."

"Wow." He remarked. "Look at us."

I smiled, his good mood obnoxiously infectious. But who was I kidding, I could use something to smile about.

"Almost there." Gray observed. "Also, you never answered my question."

I sent him a confused look. What was he talking about?

He looked suspiciously non-suspicious. Which meant he was up to something, as usual.

"Gray…" I began, warningly, before I realized we were pulling into a driveway.

Natsu and Lucy's house was small. It was also very cute. It was taller than it was long, and it was a pale beige, with a fenced in backyard. I didn't know what I had been expecting, really.

"Shit." I heard Gray swear. I looked back at him. "I don't have a key."

Shit was right. "Text Natsu and ask for the garage code."

He nodded and got to work. I walked up to the front door, curious. I reached forward to open the door, just to test my luck, but it was locked.

When we were kids, my parents liked to use Lucy's parents as free babysitters so my parents could go to night school. That was before Lucy's mom died, when she was eight. And then her dad passed when she was 14. Lucy's aunt and uncle were kind enough to take her in, but it was never the same. My parents used to drop me off at Lucy's house, and I'd have to unlock the door myself with the key they kept under the orchid planter next to the door.

I turned my head to the side, suddenly feeling like Sherlock Holmes.

Orchids.

_I wonder…_

I lifted up the pretty green planter to see, sure enough, a pair of golden keys. Of course. Lucy probably kept it there as a tribute to her mom, who loved the orchids more than anything.

I slipped the key into the door and walked inside, forgetting Gray existed for a moment. Natsu and Lucy's house was beautiful on the inside. There were so many details that reminded me of Lucy's when we were kids. The fresh pale green paint on the walls, the birch bannister. I felt like I had stepped into an old memory.

"Lucy?" I called, half expecting the six year old equivalent of Lucy to come barreling down the stairs.

"Juvia?" I heard a voice call. That _definitely _wasn't Lucy. I turned around to see Gray, who had finally noticed that I'd found the key. He was staring at me like he was seeing me for the first time.

I looked at him quizzically, and he just shook his head. I shrugged and called Lucy's name again.

"I'll look downstairs." Gray suggested, leaving me to search the living room and the kitchen.

I turned a corner and saw stacks of papers surrounding their living room table. It looked like wedding preparation stuff. Designs, bills, and other ideas. Nothing else seemed out of place, except…

Sitting on the back of the door from the kitchen to the laundry room was a garment bag. An empty garment bag.

It could be nothing, but…

I snapped a picture of the bag with my phone and sent it to Natsu. Just in case.

"Gray?" I called out. No answer. He probably couldn't hear me.

I decided to check upstairs as well. I ambled up the stairs, peering into the rooms at the top. Guest bedroom, bathroom, extra bedroom…

I pushed open a door that was slightly ajar to reveal what must've been Natsu and Lucy's room. The covers on the bed were everywhere, like a tornado had torn through just their bedroom. Stuff was all over the floor. There was a pile of developed photos on the desk in the corner. My nosiness took ahold of me and I peered at the pile. It was a bunch of shiny photos of Natsu and Lucy, together. Most were more recent, but as I leafed through the stack, I found quite a few that were featuring me and Gray, from the summer after our senior year.

I felt a smile take over my face before my better judgement could beat it out. We all looked so young.

I frowned, then. These photos were evidence of a woman who wanted to get married to the love of her life, more than anything.

_Where are you, Lucy?_

"Juvia?"

_Fucking Christ!_

I must've jumped pretty hard, because the next thing I knew, the pile of photos were strewn across the floor. Gray looked at me apologetically.

"Are you insane? I thought you were a murderer!" I accused, bending down to pick up the photos. Before I could, my phone buzzed loudly.

"Sorry," Gray apologized, moving to pick up the photos for me while I answered my phone. It was a text from Natsu.

_That garment bag is for Lucy's dress. Why is it missing?_

My suspicions were correct. If Lucy's dress was gone, there was only one place it could be.

_She must be wearing it. Natsu she is probably on her way._ I sent back.

I put my phone back in my purse to see Gray had finished cleaning up the photos.

"We should go. Lucy is wearing her wedding dress, so that should make it easier for us to find her." I explained. He looked at me funny, like he didn't believe me, before brushing it off.

"Both of their cars are still in the garage. Are you sure she's not here?" He asked.

"She's definitely gone." I noted. "God, where the hell could she _be_?"

Gray looked pensive, and peered out their bedroom window. "If she's wearing her dress, it doesn't seem like she would go to a restaurant or any other kitchy place. My guess would be she got detoured on her way to the chapel. She must've taken an Uber or something."

My heart stopped. What if Lucy got kidnapped in an Uber? That _had _to have happened - a creepy Uber driver saw the beautiful blushing bride and kidnapped her so he could chop her up and feed her to his pitbulls! Oh my _God, _we were fucked.

Sensing my panic, Gray seized my shoulders and gave me a little shake.

"Would you relax? Let's just drive back to the chapel, and we can look along the road to see if there were any accidents. Then we can check surrounding churches in case she got dropped off to the wrong location." He told me calmly. His hands lingered on my shoulders, leaving searing handprints I was sure would remain for months to come. In my memory, at least.

"There's no use panicking until we have a good reason to panic." He reminded me. He removed his hands and made a move to leave the bedroom so we could get back in the car.

"Excuse you?" My inner anxiety demon suddenly possessed me. "This is the _perfect _time to panic, you - you weird, ice-man! Lucy is _missing! _She could be dead! And we-"

"Fuck's sake," I heard Gray grumble. "She's not _dead_, alright? This is Lucy we're talking about. She would single-handedly beat the universe's ass if it tried to kill her on her wedding day."

I glared at him. How could he be so calm? The world could be collapsing in on itself and he'd sit back in a folding chair and watch it all happen with dull interest.

"I hate you." I said flatly before turning to leave the bedroom. He laughed and followed me down the stairs.

"Save it for the honeymoon." He replied. I tried not to read into his words. Part of me seized the opportunity to imagine he was referring to our honeymoon, when he was obviously talking about Natsu and Lucy's honeymoon. I cursed my overactive imagination as we left out the front door and I placed the house key in its rightful place underneath the orchid plant.

Gray looked at me funny for what felt like the fiftieth time. I wanted to smack that stupid look off of his face. And then maybe even it out by kissing him. Maybe scratch the first part.

I unlocked the Tesla with Sting's phone. I felt weird about the fact that Gray and I were just hoping to see Lucy on our drive back to the chapel, and we were basically all out of leads. She was obviously meaning to go to the wedding, but something was keeping her from getting there. If we were still seven, I would've just checked the treehouse at her parent's place, which is where Lucy would hide when her parents were pissed at her. The treehouse, unfortunately, had been bulldozed a long, long time ago, and Lucy's parents house belonged to a bunch of posers now.

_Wait a minute..._

"Juvia?" Gray asked, noticing that I had completely frozen in front of the car. "What is it?"

"Fuck." I said aloud. We were stupid. So fucking stupid! God!

"I know where she is."

"What?" Gray asked, but I pushed past him and barreled into the driver's seat.

"Get in! Come on!" I yelled, already putting the car into gear. Gray barely had time to slide into the passenger seat before I was barreling down the road at about 45 miles per hour.

"Juvia! Where are we going?" He asked, cringing at my driving skills. "God! Slow down - that was a stop sign, you maniac!"

"We're so fucking _dumb_, I can't believe we didn't think of this already!" I shouted over the sound of cars blaring their horns at me. Stupid assholes. "Text Natsu and tell him we're going to St. Maria's!"

"St. Maria's? What the hell is that?" Gray asked impatiently, pretty pissed that he'd been out of the loop for more than a minute.

"Just tell Natsu! He'll know!" I shouted, accelerating into a right turn.

"God! Fucking - Juvia, how many times do I have to tell you, you accelerate _out _of the turn, not _into_ it!"

"Shut up Gray! We have more pressing matters to attend to!"

"Not if we die first! Which we _will _if you keep driving like a drunk Vin Diesel!"

I ignored him while I kept driving. He could criticize my driving skills when we were dead. We were almost there, anyway. I could see the winding road breaking off into the barely familiar landscape of the St. Maria's cemetery.

I'd only been there a few times, the memory was still hazy. I went there for the first time, for Lucy's mother's funeral. We were eight, and I watched them put her into the ground while Lucy cried. We visited once more after that, for our middle school graduation, so Lucy could ask her mother for advice. Then, again, for Lucy's father's funeral, when we were 14. The last time I'd been there was for our high school graduation. Lucy wanted to light a candle, gingerbread spice, for her mother, and tell her that she was graduating. Levy and I had brought orchids.

I was surprised I still remembered the way, but the roads were engraved in my memory, probably from the trauma of watching one of my closest friend's world fall apart in front of her. There was nothing I could do to help Lucy.

Now I could help her.

Of _course _Lucy would want to go see her parents before her wedding. She must've put it off until the last minute.

We pulled into the cemetery parking lot, and I had barely put the car into park before I was already climbing out and bolting towards the hill Lucy's parents were put to rest on.

By now, Gray had probably figured out what was going on, and was following me closely.

I finally spotted the two headstones I was looking for and my heart sunk.

Lucy wasn't there.

"No," I heard myself cry. I trudged up to the headstones of Layla and Jude Heartfilia. A blonde bride was nowhere in sight.

I stared at Layla's headstone, trying to conjure up her face in my memory. It had been so long. I didn't even remember her voice.

"Juvia," Gray said my name. I had forgotten he was beside me. His presence seemed to swallow me whole, and the warmth of his arm found my waist. I leaned into his touch, unconsciously. I couldn't believe she wasn't there. I had nowhere else to look.

"Why isn't she here?" I asked him. Gray was silent, until his thumb touched my cheek.

Fuck. I was crying. Thank god I wore waterproof mascara.

I leaned my head against his shoulder and just stared at the headstones. I knew I was wasting time, but it felt like we had already been defeated.

Gray was still quiet, which I appreciated. He just held my head against his shoulder like it belonged there. I would argue that it did.

When he finally did speak, it was something entirely off-topic.

"Smells like gingerbread." He remarked quietly. My tears had begun to dry, and I processed his words carefully.

Gingerbread?

I yanked myself out of Gray's embrace and checked the space next to Layla's grave.

No fucking way.

A gingerbread candle. Her favorite.

It was lit.

I pressed my hands against Gray's chest and laughed.

"You're a genius!" I cried, and without thinking I jumped up and kissed him on the cheek. I wasn't quite tall enough, so I basically hit his jaw, but it didn't matter. I pulled back and grabbed him by the hand and pulled.

"What are you talking about?" Gray inquired as I dragged him through the cemetery and back to the car. "You're not driving, by the way."

I rolled my eyes. "There was a lit candle by the headstones - Lucy _was _here."

Gray's mouth made an 'o', and I would've added onto my plan, but I noticed I'd left a lipstick mark on Gray's jawbone.

Oops. I'd just consider it marking my territory for all the horny sorority sisters back at the wedding.

"We should drive back to the chapel from here - that's where Lucy would be headed." Gray suggested, and I nodded in agreement. He climbed into the driver's seat and i got into the passenger side, already typing out my findings to Natsu. He seemed just as irked as me that he didn't think of St. Maria's earlier - according to him, they had visited a week ago to bring flowers. He didn't think she'd come back again right before their wedding.

Gray did drive considerably smoother than I did. I wouldn't say _better_, necessarily, but the ride was definitely less rocky. I kept my eyes peeled as we drove in the opposite direction from whence we came, in case there were any clues for where Lucy might be.

"So...you wanna talk about what just happened?" Gray asked. I tore my eyes from the window and raised my eyebrows at him.

He sighed, because I clearly wasn't picking up what he was throwing down.

"You kissed me. Again."

Dammit. Why did he always remember the things I wanted him to forget?

"That barely counts." I sniffed, looking back out the window to avoid his smouldering gaze.

"We can't keep doing this," Gray started, clearly troubled by my haywire actions. It wasn't my fault that whenever he was around my brain short-circuited and I did very, _very _stupid things.

"This is what we _do_, Gray." I argued, still keeping my gaze fixed outside. "We see each other. I do something stupid. You say something dumb, like 'let's talk about this,' and then we _don't_, and I leave, and we never speak about it again." I surmised our relationship for the past seven years in a few sentences.

Gray was stunned, like he didn't think I'd been keeping track of all of our meetings since we broke up. Well, the joke was on him. I kept every memory of him locked in a safety deposit box in the very back of my brain, where it could never die.

"Well, maybe I don't want to do that anymore." Gray sounded annoyed, like it was _my _fault that we were totally dysfunctional. We were equal participants in this terrible, terrible merry-go-round.

Well, ok. Maybe it was like...two-thirds my fault, one-third his fault. I could go with that.

"What do you propose we do, then?" I asked sarcastically. My eyes were glued to the treeline we were zipping past. We were about ten minutes from the chapel now. I needed to focus on finding Lucy, not repairing my broken relationship with Gray.

"Stop running? Both of us." He clarified. "We need to-"

My eyes widened. I had been focusing on Gray, until something caught my eye up ahead.

"Pull over!" I demanded. He gave me an incredulous look. "Pull over!" I repeated.

Without hesitation, Gray slammed on the brakes and pulled the Tesla to the side of the road.

I yanked open the passenger door and threw myself out of the car.

I couldn't believe our luck.

"Lucy!" I shouted.

There she was. Beautiful, perfect, Lucy Heartfilia. In her stunning mermaid dress, the bottom of which was covered in dirt and grass stains. Her face was stained with tears and makeup, but she still looked incredible.

"Juvia?" She asked, barely containing her shock.

I plowed into her, hugging her slim form to my body and refusing to let go.

"Juvia! What are you-" She could barely return my hug before I was pulling her back to the car at top speed.

I threw the back door open and practically hurled Lucy into the car, shoving the poofy bottom of her dress into the Tesla with gusto.

I jumped into the passenger seat and didn't even have to tell Gray to get the car rolling. We were moving already.

"Lucy!" I screamed, turning myself backwards to look at her disheveled appearance. "What the fuck happened to you!?"

Lucy was crying. "I-I took a Lyft to see my mom and dad, and then - and then-" she sniffed, and took a moment to wipe her tears away, along with some makeup. "The stupid Lyft driver ditched me! And I dropped my phone in a puddle, and now it's broken, so I started walking, and I-"

She ended her summary with a wail. Fuck. this was a total disaster.

"Stop crying!" I yelled, which shut her up pretty quickly. "You're gonna fuck up your makeup! Here," I began, grabbing my purse from the floor and pulling out the essentials. "Let me fix you up. You're getting married today, or we're going to die trying."

Lucy sniffed and nodded. By then, I was basically half in the back seat, and half in the front seat. I climbed further into the back, even though I wouldn't fit completely. Lucy's dress took up a lot of volume. I settled by setting one of my legs onto the cup holder in between the driver and passenger seats, and my other leg in Gray's lap.

"Juvia, this is _not_ safe," he protested, using one of his arms to grab my thigh and keep me balanced.

"Shut up!" I yelled, "and drive smoother! We're doing eye makeup back here!"

I used the makeup wipes in my bag to clean off the makeup that had run down Lucy's rosy cheeks, and pulled my mascara out of my bag. This was going to take a steady hand. Thank god I was used to patients being fidgety.

Gray took a left turn, sending me careening into his lap. I ignored the fact that the lower half of my body was basically on top of him and continued to fix up Lucy.

"Is this a twig?" I asked aloud, pulling the stick from Lucy's beautiful braid. Or, formerly beautiful. "I think you need to put your hair down."

"Okay," Lucy agreed, helping me pull the messed up bobby pins out of her hair.

"Gray! Did you text Natsu that we found her?" I asked, without thinking. He adjusted his grip on my legs, so I was less in his lap and more on top of the cup holders.

"Juvia, I'm _driving. _You text him!"

"I'm a little preoccupied!" I argued, smoothing Lucy's hair down so it looked less like she had been in the middle of a sex romp.

"Oh God, _Natsu! _Is he upset? Where is he?" Lucy asked. I wanted to spare her the gory details.

"He's back at the chapel. Don't worry about him, he never doubted you for a second." I reassured her gently. I used some more makeup wipes to try and wipe the dirt out of the bottom of her frilly dress, with little success. "Lucy! What happened to your shoes?"

One of her heels was completely dislocated, hanging off of the shoe like a sad vestigial twin. There was no way she could walk down the aisle in a broken heel.

"Take them off!" I demanded, before turning back to Gray. "Take mine off, too." I informed him. He huffed, like he was upset I was giving him so many directions even though he was driving, but he obliged.

"How many straps are on these awful things?" Gray asked, trying to unhook my shoes with one hand while I slipped off Lucy's dirty ones.

"Just hurry up! We have to switch!" I told him. Lucy looked at me like I was laying down the life of my firstborn child.

"Juvia, I can't take your shoes!" She exclaimed. "And I can't get married! Look at me!"

I glared at her for even suggesting the fact. "You _are _getting married today, because everyone who loves you is here for you. Natsu loves you, and you love him. And you're going to marry him if it's the last damned thing I do! Now stop squirming and let me put my shoes on you." I lectured.

Lucy bit her lip, and looked like she was going to cry again. "Juvia...I-"

"Do _not _cry." I reminded her. Gray handed me my shoes and I got to work strapping them to Lucy's feet.

"There's the chapel." Gray said from the front of the car. "Juvia, get back up here, you're going to hurt yourself."

I grumbled and squished myself backwards and towards the passenger seat. Gray used his free arm to loop around my waist and pull me upwards and into the passenger seat in one quick motion.

Whew. That display of strength made horny Juvia painfully aware of how powerful he was. Hmm…

I exhaled slowly, and watched the church come into focus. Fuck! I forgot to text Natsu!

I grabbed my phone and sent out a text to Natsu that we had his lost bride, and we pulled up to the cathedral.

"Looks like everyone's still here." Gray observed. The parking lot was still filled with cars. Gray pulled up to the curb and we unloaded, careful not to tear Lucy's already dirty dress on the street.

Lucy began to speed walk to her best ability to the church, with Gray and I close behind. My bare feet slapped the pavement as I made minor adjustments to Lucy's dress while she ran.

When we entered the church, I was assaulted by the smell of pizza, and the sight of empty pizza boxes. Levy was standing in the hall, talking to Gajeel nervously.

"Levy!" Lucy screeched, running at her maid of honor and hugging her tightly.

"Fuck! Lucy!" Levy screamed back. Huh. I didn't think I'd ever heard Levy say 'fuck'. It was kind of incredible. Even Gajeel looked shocked.

At the sound of screaming, a haggard-looking Natsu emerged from the preparation room. The minute his eyes hit Lucy, he completely lost it. I'd never seen a human being hug someone so fast. His arms completely entrapped Lucy and she started babbling incoherently, trying to explain herself to her fiance. He didn't care, he just leaned down and kissed her. Again, and again, and again.

I felt kind of weird, like I was intruding on a private moment. Natsu and Lucy held each other close, leaving virtually no room for Jesus. I guess that was the beauty of getting married.

I turned to Gajeel, who seemed just as bewildered as everyone else.

"What the hell happened here?" I asked him quietly as Lucy babbled an explanation to her future husband and her maid of honor.

"Levy stole my credit card and ordered pizza for the congregation." He said bitterly. "Dragneel better comp me. The hell happened to you guys?"

I turned to Gray and we shared a sort of poignant look. Neither of us had a proper explanation.

"We uh- we found Lucy." I explained poorly.

Gajeel snorted. "No shit. Where'd you find her, a ditch?"

I smacked his arm, partially because he was being rude, and partially because he was kind of right.

I heard Levy speaking sternly and turned to listen in. She looked like she had sobered up pretty quickly and already had a plan for us to enact.

"Natsu, get your ass in the chapel. Lucy, we're marrying you _right now _whether you like it or not." Levy commanded, giving Natsu (who had managed to get the soot off of his face, at the very least) a firm shove into the main worship room where the ceremony was to take place.

Levy adjusted the sleeves on Lucy's dress and smoothed her hair down a few more times, ignoring the grass stains on the trim and my purple heels on her feet, somewhat clashing with the white of her dress. At least she _had _shoes. I looked down at my bare feet and grimaced.

Natsu poked his head out of the chapel and back into the room we were standing in.

"Aren't you guys coming?" He asked. I turned to Gray, who looked like he had completely forgotten that he was a member of the wedding party. Gajeel shrugged and moved to follow him.

Gray made a nodding motion at Natsu, indicating he'd follow along in a moment. He turned back to me and looked at me like he had something to say.

Under his gaze, I fidgeted uncomfortably, adjusting the strap of my dress that had nearly fallen down when I had basically crawled around the car to fix Lucy's makeup.

Speaking of makeup…

I reached into my purse and pulled out one of the makeup wipes I had used on Lucy. Without thinking, I rubbed the lipstick stain I had left on Gray's jaw. He froze for a moment before he realized what I was doing.

He looked at me when I had finished and shook his head. "Do you want my shoes?"

I gaped. "No, you idiot! You're _in _the wedding, you can't be shoeless."

He opened his mouth to protest. "But you-"

"Just _go_." I reminded him, gesturing to the chapel.

He stared at me. "This isn't over."

At first I thought he was talking about the shoes. Then I realized it had a double meaning.

"I know," I said reassuringly, patting the spot on his jaw that I had kissed. "I'll see you at the reception, ok?"

He held my hand on his jaw for a millisecond, before nodding and heading into the church. Idiot.

Lucy, in all her grass-stained glory, walked up behind Gray to make her grand entrance. Her uncle had looped his arm with hers, ready to walk her down the aisle. Levy was gathering the train of her dirty dress, probably trying to prevent it from accumulating any more dust

Lucy turned to me and shot me finger guns, probably her dorky way of saying thank you. Then, she advanced into the chapel, the organ singing with glee at her late arrival.

Damn. In that moment, it hit me that my friends were getting _married_. And I was a total spinster with no boyfriend.

I hated that my mind immediately went to Gray. Fuck. I was so unbelievably predictable. The leash that boy had on me…it was embarrassing to say the least.

The music from inside the chapel stopped playing and I heard the muffled sounds of voices, probably the priest talking about Jesus and marriage and all that jazz.

Fuck. I needed to get back into the church.

I snuck around to the side entrance of the church, walking in quietly and trying to wave down my friends so they knew I was coming back. I could see Sting's bright blond head, still chewing on a piece of pizza.

I squeezed past a row of people and slid into my spot, with much protest from Jellal and Erza, who were angrily whispering at me and wondering where the fuck I had been for the past hour. They had shot me a couple of text while Gray and I were Lucy-hunting, but I had been too distracted to explain what was going on.

"Long story," I whispered to Jellal. He looked annoyed, but nodded because he was polite. Sting on the other hand…

"Would you stop eating?" I whispered to him, enraged.

He looked at me with a slice still in his mouth, confused. "I'm hungry?"

I rolled my eyes and focused back onto the ceremony. Lucy looked beautiful. And it was more than her hair and makeup, she had that kind of beautiful that radiated because of how truly happy she was. Natsu had it too. It was so disgustingly cute.

The wedding proceeded without any more tragic hitches. The bride and groom exchanged vows, which seemed improvised, because both of them made jabs at Lucy's expense as far as the whole disappearing bride act went. It was nice to know they had a sense of humor about it despite the catastrophe only being resolved fifteen minutes ago.

My eyes were annoyingly drawn to Gray throughout the ceremony. He seemed to be pretty focused on the whole ordeal, so for once I could actually stare at him without him catching me in the act.

"Hey. You're drooling."

Well. Just because Gray wasn't catching me didn't mean Sting couldn't do his job for him.

I didn't respond to Sting, I just elbowed him because Natsu and Lucy were literally moments away from getting married. The last thing either of them needed was me interrupting their "I do's" with a physical altercation between me and Sting.

I turned back to watch the pastor pronounced them man and wife and Natsu literally scooped Lucy up like she was a cat in traffic and kissed her like it was their last.

"Damn," Sting remarked, whistling at the display of outward affection. All the people in the church were cheering, perhaps because they'd waited an extra hour and a half just to see these two married. I was trying really hard to take my own advice and not cry. Natsu and Lucy getting married was the perfect blow to my pessimistic attitude. They were a sign that love did in fact exist and wasn't just a ploy to get people to spend money on flowers.

Jellal reached over and grabbed the sleeve of my dress, jarring me out of my romantic stupor.

"You owe us a story!" He demanded. Damn. They hadn't even left the church yet and already he was thirsty for the tea.

"Keep your pants on," I advised, watching Natsu and Lucy walk hand-in-hand down the aisle followed by the rest of the wedding party.

"Hell no! You are explaining what the fuck just happened right now! Stop keeping us in suspense, woman!" Sting wailed, grabbing the other sleeve of my dress that wasn't being man-handled by Jellal.

I was a bit preoccupied trying to catch a glimpse of Gray leaving the church. Damn. I must've missed him.

Jellal and Sting hauled me over, past the crowds of people discussing the events that had just transpired. Here I was, trying to have a good time, and my so-called _friends _were basically kidnapping me.

"Juvia, spill." Erza ordered, her hands poised on her perfect hips. We had made it outside and the summer sun was blazing, reflecting off the shiny black of the limousine that was scheduled to pick up the wedding party.

"Ugh, fine." I looked down at my phone. It was 2:00, and the reception didn't officially start until 5:30. "I need a drink, though. And you're buying." I pointed at Sting.

"Me? Why not red? She's the rich one!" Sting exclaimed, pointing to Erza frantically.

"It's the thought that counts." I assured him, watching the limo drive away. Gray was inside that limo. Fuck. I had it bad, didn't I?

"Alright, fine. We can hang out at the bar until the reception starts." Erza agreed, grabbing Jellal by the tie. "See you in five. And your story _better _be good, or you'll show up to the reception in a full-body cast."

I fake-laughed, mostly because I knew she was only partially joking. You didn't fuck around when Erza was doing the threatening.

Sting and I watched Jellal and Erza walk to their car as we split in the opposite direction to where Gray had haphazardly parked the Tesla.

"So," Sting mused, sounding suspiciously all-knowing. "You and Fullbuster confess your undying love for each other...or…?"

I grimaced. "Like I said. Drink first. _Then _we talk."

Sting laughed. "You two have been circling each other like two dumbass binary stars for years now. Either you both explode and kill each other, or you come together."

I blinked at him, not expecting a mini astronomy lesson from my favorite certified idiot.

"Both of those options sound terrifying." I confessed, thinking about me and Gray reconvening in a mere three hours.

"Love's a bitch." He agreed. Who said anything about love?

I opened my mouth to protest, but he shot me a look that said 'don't even try it'. I shut my mouth again, trying to think of what I could say. I came up short. Maybe he was right about me and Gray, either ending terribly or wonderfully. And it was my job to decide which of the two I wanted more.

"I...could really use that drink."

.

.

.

**sorry about this. mess. **

**anyways shoutout to everyone who reviewed bc yall rock. seriously. love that for all of u, feel free to shoot me a pm if u wanna talk etc bc im really friendly and also annoying!**

**love u sm kate. i understand more than anyone that life happens! im in nursing school rn and life is crazy for the both of us! and OMG I CANT BELIEVE U HAVE A KID! it seems like yesterday i was looking at all of ur wedding photos :,) so excited for u. much love xoxo**

**until next time - hopefully some time after next weekend? ill try my best yall. **


	4. back to you

**20/20**

**chapter 4: back to you**

**chapter summary: at the reception of Natsu and Lucy's wedding, Gray and Juvia talk.**

**a/n: *dababy voice* less gooooooo**

**sorry this took me so long. had to start from scratch, also school started back up for me and its trying to destroy me. please enjoy this chapter, its messy but thats sort of my signature now. love u all. especially kate and kiri. thank u so much for supporting me basically my whole life on ffnet/tumblr. the love i have for yall...powerful.**

* * *

I realized about fifteen minutes into the wedding reception that I shouldn't have told people I'm a registered nurse.

"No, I can't get you on the liver transplant list." I told one of Natsu's frat brothers, who was awkwardly lingering at the open bar like he was waiting for an unsuspecting bridesmaid to fall into his clutches.

"Oh. That's too bad, then." He sipped on what looked like a bourbon lemonade. "So, what's your deal? I don't remember you from college."

I sighed. Engaging him in small talk was pretty much at the bottom of my to-do list, but I needed to stay at the bar so I could keep an eye out for Gray. Sting was in the bathroom, so I couldn't rely on him to scare away potential suitors at the moment.

"High school friend." I said flatly, trying to display my disinterest in the conversation. He didn't catch my drift, apparently, because he just kept talking.

"That's cool. Natsu and I were pretty tight in college. And Lucy's a great girl." He added, leaning against the bar and flashing me a smile. "What are you doing after the reception?"

Wow. Subtle. Usually guys who wanted wedding hookups would at least wait until the end of the night to find someone to take home, but this guy liked to cut to the chase. Douche.

"Not you." I told him honestly. He looked shocked that I actually wasn't a complete empty-brained bimbo who understood what he wanted from me. But, he took the hint with more grace than I expected, and just opted to walk away to spare himself any further embarrassment.

I was sipping on a long island iced tea, one I had ordered the moment I arrived at the reception around 5:10. It was 5:20 now, and I still hadn't seen Gray.

I really needed to talk to him. Not just because we had a lot of unresolved tension, but also because the events earlier in the day had given me a taste of something I'd been craving for a very long time. I basically soaked up Gray like the sun. That was one of the reasons I attributed to our breakup all those years ago. I was a needy, needy bitch. Not having Gray within a ten mile radius might've killed me had we still been together.

Turns out, it didn't matter if we were dating or not. I still missed him. Like a total idiot.

It was like I _liked _having my hopes and dreams ripped to shreds. That was the only sane explanation as to why I allowed myself to cling to Gray but not follow through with any action.

"You're sucking down that long island awfully fast." Sting remarked, returning from the bathroom to my aid.

"I can't help it, I'm nervous." I defended, taking another meaningful gulp. He was only judging me because I had a rum and coke at the bar when we went with Jellal and Erza.

"I know I said we were gonna get wasted tonight, but it doesn't seem appropriate given your...circumstances." He explained logically. "Prince charming still MIA?"

"Obviously." I mumbled into my drink. "I don't even see Natsu and Lucy. God I hope they didn't ditch their own wedding reception to fuck."

Sting paused, considering my words. "Actually...that might be possible."

I groaned, draining the rest of my drink and setting the empty glass on the bar counter with a _clink_. Plus ten dumbass points for me.

Sting ordered an appletini and regarded me quietly.

"You know, I think the shoes really pull the outfit together."

I glared at him, my feet squeaking as I turned to face him.

In order to get into the bar after the wedding, I needed to be wearing shoes. Sting refused to take me anywhere with medium quality shoes, and instead forced me to pick out a pair of knockoff Crocs from the local CVS. So yeah. I was wearing a dark purple cocktail dress that someone on the bachelor would wear, paired with a pair of fake black Crocs.

Total fucking idiot ensemble.

"I hate you so much." I told him honestly. "I need another long island."

"Do you?" He asked rhetorically. I scrunched my nose at him and ordered one anyway. I needed to steel my nerves, badly. The suspense was _literally _killing me.

Sting watched me start another long island with scrutiny. "Don't you want to go socialize with Jellal and Erza? You're starting to look like a bitter bridesmaid."

I turned to the common area where Jellal and Erza were seated, talking to a few friends from high school. I did want to go socialize, kind of. But I had a one track mind. And that one track was named and paved by Gray Fullbuster.

"You aren't listening. I see that now." Sting murmured. "Fucking Gray Fullbuster…"

I turned to him abruptly. "Hey! Don't take the Lord's name in vain!"

Sting rolled his eyes. "Juvia, you're going to make me jealous if you keep giving him all of your attention." He drawled, throwing one of his arms over my shoulders. "Let's go mingle. I can take your mind off of McDreamy for a while."

I rolled my eyes, even though Gray did have the amazing hair for the honor of the McDreamy title. I allowed Sting to lead me away from the bar though, mostly because I didn't trust myself that close to that many bottles of tequila considering my state of mind.

Erza was talking to Mirajane while Jellal was talking to Lisanna and Elfman. Jesus, Mira and Erza talking was like seeing two goddesses descend from heaven just to grace us mortals with the privilege of their presence.

"Oh Juvia! Look at you, so beautiful!" Mirajane remarked, turning from Erza to me. Her deep blue gaze traveled from my face, down my dress and all the way to my...shoes. Her face dropped.

"Uh...long story." I said sheepishly. "And you're the one who looks beautiful Mira." I added, hoping to distract her from my fake Crocs.

It worked. She grinned and took my hands into hers, telling me about her life in the fashion industry. She had actually met one of my closest friends from college, Jenny, when they both did a stint in modelling a few years back. Of fucking course they both modeled. You know, it was getting really exhausting being surrounded by all of these beautiful women. It was like I was basically the DUFF for all of Magnolia.

Lisanna came up behind me and pressed her cheek to my shoulder affectionately.

"It's been a while." She greeted, "and I'm not gonna ask about the shoes."

"Oh thank god," I expressed my gratitude by hugging her. It was exciting that she even got to attend the wedding considering she'd spent the last year in Bangladesh doing conservatory work.

"So," Lisanna began, looking at me critically. "Are we going to be doing some karaoke tonight?"

She brought up a good point - Lucy adored karaoke, there was at least a 75% chance she'd be forcing her wedding guests to participate in a mini singing contest, most likely to the tune of the High School Musical soundtrack.

I grimaced. "I'm not drunk enough for that."

Lisanna eyed me. "We can fix that."

_Damn! 24 year old Lisanna doesn't fuck around!_

I grinned and made a 'cheers' motion with my long island. She winked and sauntered over to the bar. Holy shit. I was going to meet drunk Lisanna! She didn't drink with the rest of us after high school ended, and would instead hang out with Lucy watching the rest of us idiots get totally shitfaced like the idiot teenagers we were.

I watched Lisanna drown a shot of Bacardi without a chaser. Impressive. Apparently she had done a lot of growing up, the hard way.

Erza was watching, too, clearly intrigued by the turn of events. Fuck. I needed to get _Erza _drunk. If anyone needed to let loose, it was her.

"Come on," I decided, grabbing her arm mid-conversation with Elfman and Mira.

"Juvia, what-"

I dragged her to the bar where Lisanna looked ecstatic that we'd decided to join her.

"Round of shots," Lisanna requested to the bartender, gesturing to me, her, and Erza. Erza looked skeptical, but when I handed her the shot, she obliged, throwing it back with impressive tact. I wasn't far behind, letting the stinging sensation of the vodka burn a trail down my throat.

"Jesus," Erza looked poisoned, setting the shot glass down on the bar counter.

"That's the spirit!" Lisanna celebrated.

I was about to convince Erza to have another shot, but I spotted an oddly familiar face at a table towards the center of the room.

I gestured to Erza that I would be back, picked up what was left of my drink, and walked to the table where Lyon Fullbuster was sitting. My technical arch-nemesis. Although he had originally been against the idea of Gray and I dating, and in fact, against the idea of me in general, he came around to me. He even at one point thought I had a crush on him, which lead to a very weird and awkward encounter.

Lyon's eyes caught mine before I could say anything to him. He didn't look surprised that I was there, but he did look disturbed by the fact that I had chosen to approach him.

"Wow." He uttered, taking in my appearance with disdain. "Did you get shorter?"

I took the seat next to him and glared. "Seriously? That's all you have to say to me?"

He looked at me again, his dark eyes mysterious, just like Gray's. "It's been a while."

"Mhm." I agreed, sipping my drink thoughtfully. "You look sharp. Where's your date?"

"Where's yours?" He shot back. Ha! Joke was on him. I actually _had _a date, technically. I jabbed my thumb in Sting's direction, where he was talking to Jellal and Elfman.

"That's still going on?" He seemed unimpressed, but he smiled. His eyes drifted to my drink. "You an alcoholic now?"

I sneered. "I don't think you want to have that conversation with me. I happen to recall me, driving you home, drunk off your ass while I was still in high school, so save me the lecture."

My words probably seemed harsh, but Lyon and I had a sort of understanding where we'd exchange seemingly venomous jabs without really meaning them all that much. The fun was in the creativity of the insults.

"God, you bring that up _every time_." He pushed his head into his hands and groaned. "I was in a weird place."

"Uh-huh." I agreed. "I didn't see you at the wedding."

He shrugged. "I saw you. But I'm pretty sure your attention was elsewhere."

I bit my lip, hoping my face wasn't turning too red. Fuck. Even dense as rocks _Lyon _noticed me staring at Gray like he was the solar eclipse?

"It was a very eventful ceremony." I admitted, unwilling to divulge my obsession to _Lyon _of all people. "How's Ultear?" I changed topics abruptly.

He visibly brightened. "Good. She graduated last year, and she's at the U now." He sounded proud of his little sister. It was hard to imagine a grown-up Ultear, I remembered her fondly as Gray's middle-school aged sister who would frequently interrupt our dates to have a conversation with me.

"At least one of you made it to the University," I grinned cheekily and finished off my drink. He looked at me pointedly.

"Ha-ha. All thanks to you." He credited. I smiled in recognition. At the time, Lyon hated me for encouraging Gray to chase a career in business rather than pursuing hockey at Magnolia University. I was sure by now he'd accepted it, considering Gray was successful as fuck. And also handsome. Not necessarily in that order.

Speaking of Gray...I needed to talk to him before I got drunk off my ass. As if I needed a repeat of drunk Juvia battling sober Gray.

"Any chance you know where the wedding party is?" I asked him, trying to sound totally casual and not at all invested in the whereabouts of his brother.

He looked unconvinced. "Gray texted me an hour ago. They were still at Natsu and Lucy's place." He paused before adding, "why don't you ask him yourself?"

Crap. He knew what I wanted. Maybe I wasn't as subtle as I thought I was.

"Because it's not that deep." I huffed. "I don't _need _to know where they are, I was just wondering is all."

"Uh-huh. Sure." He drawled sarcastically. I went to have another sip of my drink before I realized it was empty. Fuck. If I was doing my alcohol math correctly, that put me just a little bit past...tipsy.

Lyon watched me as I drew this conclusion remarkably slowly.

"Jesus. Are you drunk? It's only 5:30." Lyon observed, with a stupid smile on his face. Oh, I was sure he was loving this. The idea of me, drunk and embarrassing, and him sober was probably a revenge lover's dream.

"I am not drunk!" I hissed. "Just a little...buzzed."

He started laughing and I stepped on his foot with my fake Crocs, which only made him laugh even harder.

When he was finished laughing, he let out a sigh of satisfaction. "Damn. I kind of missed you, crazy woman."

My eye twitched. That was only a half-compliment.

"I'll go get you a snack. Wait here, and don't try to stand too quickly or you'll get a concussion." He advised me, standing so he could retrieve some food to help absorb the alcohol in my system.

"Thanks dickhead." I snorted, leaning back in the uncomfortable metal chair and sighing. Yup. I was only a _tiny _bit drunk. I could feel the buzzing in my toes and fingertips, and if I stood too quickly, I'd probably sway. Nothing too serious, but a little alarming considering the fact I'd only been at the reception for like a half an hour.

_Meaning _the wedding party was now a half an hour late! Where the hell were they?

I tilted my head back, allowing the wave of dizziness travel up my spine and to my brain. Yup. Just a _tiny _bit drunk. Barely tipsy. But it felt nice.

I turned to see which food table Lyon had gone to, only to see a crowd of people at the entrance to the venue. That was probably the wedding party, _finally _arriving.

My stomach suddenly dropped. Gray was probably here. Fuck! I should've fixed my hair and makeup in the mirror instead of talking to Lyon! I probably looked raggedy as fuck.

Subconsciously, I tugged at the neckline of my dress so it wasn't so low and so it was covering my boobs a bit more. My sleeves were also sliding down a bit, so I moved to adjust those as well. I reached up to smooth my hair down, and was alarmed when I felt several flyaways. Fuck! You truly could not fix ugly. I was totally fucked.

I craned my neck to see the new arrivals better. At the front of the crowd, was a very clean looking Lucy, who had evidently changed into a white cocktail dress in between the ceremony and the reception, and she had put her hair up into a twisty bun. Natsu on the other hand looked the same, his arm locked around Lucy's back as a group of people followed them towards the front of the reception room, where the tables were set for the members of the wedding party.

My eyes tore across the crowd of people, aggressively searching for Gray. Damn! Why was I so bad at ISpy?

My nails rapped against the tablecloth nervously. I couldn't see his dark hair in the group of people, even as they started filling out the tables. Part of me feared that he had gotten the hell out of dodge after the mess that was the ceremony, and he'd rather run for the hills than have another scathing conversation with me. But this was _Gray._ Handsome, trustworthy, well-meaning, dumb, Gray. He wouldn't do that to me. I would do that to him, but he wouldn't do that to me.

God, I was a scumbag.

"Looking for someone?"

My head spun, and for a second the world stopped. He was standing behind me, a bag in his hands, looking down at me with a lazy smile. How the hell had he snuck up on me like that?

"I-" Oof. Suddenly I wished I had more to drink.

He didn't wait for an intelligent response from me, probably knowing one would never come. Instead, he thrust the bag that he was holding in front of my face.

"I have your shoes." He told me, glancing down at my feet.

Relief flooded through me. Yes! I could get rid of these shitty Croc knockoffs!

"Oh my god, I love you," I exclaimed, grabbing the bag and pulling out my violet heels. They were perfect.

I pretended not to notice the shocked look on Gray's face from my declaration. I seriously hoped he wasn't taking me seriously, because I was _not _ready for that conversation.

I tore off my crocs with glee and handed them to Gray. "Hold these." I commanded, pulling on my heels with delight. Sweet, sweet foot prisons.

Gray obliged, balancing the shoes and watching me with interest. I looked down at my handiwork, satisfied. I suddenly had ankles, and they looked damn good.

"Uh...what do you want me to do with these?" Gray asked, holding up my discarded shoes. I shrugged.

"Burn them so they can't hurt anyone else?" I suggested. He seemed placated by my suggestion and decided to just slide them under the table so no one would have to look at them.

Gray sat down in the chair next to me, decidedly ignoring the fact that he had an assigned seat with the wedding party. I should probably be flattered, but I was mostly just hungry.

"What took you guys so long?" I asked, leaning my head in my hand as I faced him. I had practiced steeling my expression so I wouldn't look like the heart-eye emoji when talking to him. I could only pray that it was working in my favor.

Gray shrugged, like the story wasn't that interesting. "We went back to Natsu and Lucy's for a drink, and then Natsu tried to hotwire the limo while the driver was in the bathroom. We had to call AAA."

I nodded, like the events that transpired were nothing short of ordinary. Natsu was what therapists called a "_free spirit."_

Before I could comment, someone cleared their throat behind us. Gray and I turned to see who rudely interrupted our mini reunion.

Oh right. Lyon.

Gray looked at Lyon, who was carrying two paper plates filled with carbs. He looked back at me, suspicious, before looking back at Lyon.

"You don't waste time." Lyon commented, and I was unsure whether he was referring to Gray or me. He set one of the plates down in front of me and I rubbed my hands together, excited to kill my buzz with a shit ton of pretzels.

"The hell is going on here?" Gray asked as Lyon took his seat beside me once more. He seemed disturbed that I was spending time with his brother voluntarily, multiplied by the fact that Lyon had willingly got me food.

"Juvia's drunk." Lyon said simply, munching on a bread roll. I kicked his chair harshly.

"I am not drunk!" I protested, before turning to Gray to plead my case. "I'm not drunk. If I was, I wouldn't be able to do _this_." I reached a single finger in front of my face and tracked it with my eyes while moving it horizontally. I'd seen cops do it a lot in the ER in St. Hiyashi's, it was a fairly simple sobriety test. I preferred to just get blood samples, but the cops didn't have those kinds of resources at hand.

"You're embarrassing yourself." Lyon scoffed. "Try standing on one foot."

"I _will_," I snarled, moving to stand up. Gray's hand shot to my shoulder and held me down.

"That won't be necessary." He stated, probably not caring whether or not I was completely sober. It was a wedding, after all. "Lyon, stop antagonizing her."

"I'm not antagonizing! I brought her snacks, see?" Lyon gestured to the plate and I rolled my eyes.

Gray seemed pacified. He reached forward and started to eat one of the dinner rolls Lyon brought for me. Fucking theif.

Lyon watched us for a moment with intrigue before commenting.

"You know Gray, Juvia already promised me her after-wedding hookup, so you're kind of wasting your time here." He said slyly. It was times like these when I was only 60% sure Lyon was joking. He always held a certain tune to his voice, like he enjoyed the thrill of watching people decipher whether or not he was fucking with them. He usually was.

"Fuck off." I decided to say. I was just trying to eat my pretzels in peace. Gray looked like he was going to say the same thing.

Lyon only raised his eyebrow and blanched. "Guess fucking one Fullbuster was enough for you."

I choked on the pretzel I had been eating. Damn! He went for my jugular.

Gray looked pissed, his dark eyes narrowed. "Just because you're my brother doesn't mean I won't deck you."

"Relax, Gray. I'm only messing with her." He blew it off as I finished choking with a pathetic cough.

Gray rolled his eyes. "Would you mind giving us some privacy?"

Lyon looked between us, confused. "I was here first."

He was technically right. But that wasn't really the point.

"Fine." Gray responded flatly, standing up so abruptly the table jumped. "Juvia, let's go."

I looked down at my snacks and then back up at him. "...Right now?"

Gray looked annoyed. "Yes, right now." Ok. I guess he meant business.

"Can we get a drink first?" I asked him, suddenly nervous. To my surprise, he nodded.

I stood up shakily and Gray reached for my hand to keep me balanced. To be honest, I could've steadied myself pretty easily, but I exaggerated how off-balance I was as an excuse to hold Gray's hand. His hands were always so cold, he blamed it on poor circulation, but I liked it. It balanced me out, considering my body always wanted to pour out buckets of sweat whenever he was around.

Lyon watched us walk to the bar with a knowing look. Bastard.

While we walked to the bar, I noticed that Gray's steps were a little out-of-tune, like his brain was moving a millisecond slower than his body was. I looked up at him suspiciously, my hand still clutching his.

"Are you ok?" I asked him slowly as we pulled up to the bar. Gray looked down at me with an uncharacteristically sheepish look.

"I might...be a _tiny _bit drunk." He admitted, his eyes plastered to the bartender. My jaw dropped. I couldn't help it.

"Are you serious?" I asked, with a face-splitting grin. Gray rarely got drunk. Mostly because he had an incredibly high tolerance for alcohol. I once watched him polish off a bottle of Fireball with only a slight stumble in his walk afterwards.

He looked at me like he was relieved I found this funny and not upsetting.

"I was nervous!" He blanched, before ordering a neat whiskey from the bartender. I didn't dare order another long island, I would suck that down and be completely drunk if I had the chance. I settled with a vodka tonic before I turned to respond to Gray.

"What could you _possibly _be nervous about?" I asked him, still a little dumbfounded by the situation. I had met slightly drunk Gray on several occasions, but it had been years and years.

He looked at me wryly. I stared back, waiting for an answer.

"You…" He trailed off, dark eyes hazy. "Are you seriously asking me?"

I puckered my lips dumbly. "Kind of?"

He half-smiled and retrieved his terrible drink from the bartender. I gleefully accepted my drink as well, careful not to spill it with my left hand, since my right was still holding onto Gray's icy one.

"Fine, I'll answer if you tell me this." He agreed as we began to walk away from the bar. I wasn't sure where we were going, but i just decided to follow his lead. "Why are _you _a little drunk?"

I considered his question. There were a lot of potential answers, and I was _just _unhinged enough that I could give him an answer that was slightly embarrassed.

"I guess I was nervous too." I admitted. "_And_ I'm a social drinker."

He laughed. "I know you are," he said. I realized he was leading us out of the reception hall and towards the lobby of the modest venue. "Why are you so nervous?"

I tilted my head in thought. "I'm always nervous when you're around."

Oops. Didn't mean to let that slip. Or...maybe I did.

He looked at me seriously. "You don't have to be nervous around me Juvia."

God. I wish he didn't say my name like that. Like I was someone important to him and not just some dumb has-been.

I nodded, knowing that he was right. But I couldn't help feeling a tiny bit nervous when I was around him. It was a very instinctual response, like his presence set my skin ablaze and my thoughts asunder.

"I know I don't," I responded thoughtfully. "It's not really a bad thing. It's a good nervous."

He smiled at me then, satisfied with my answer. He released my hand and pushed open the glass doors at the front of the venue. Oh. He wanted us to go outside.

He was lucky it was June and it wasn't freezing cold or dark outside. I walked through the door he was holding open and to my dismay, he didn't take my hand again when we both stepped outside.

My heels clicked against the pavement as we began to slowly stroll down the sidewalk, no particular destination in mind. I finally opted to take a sip of my vodka tonic, relishing in the carbonated burn.

"Let me try yours," I suggested, pushing my drink in his face so we could do a drink switch. He looked at me, unsure.

"I don't think you'd like it." He confessed, taking a slow sip. I hated that he didn't even flinch when drinking what was basically poison to your body.

"Oh please, I like everything." I assured him, shaking my drink in front of his face. "You can try mine!"

He sighed. "Let me rephrase that: I don't think you can _handle _this drink."

I tried my best to look offended. "Just give me that!"

"Juvia, it's 100-proof." He repeated, trying to discourage me. I blinked, because 80-proof was about all I could handle. But it didn't really matter, because he had challenged me, and I was a Scorpio, so being outdone was out of the question.

I held my hand out, indicating that I'd made my decision. He sighed again and handed me his drink gingerly, swapping his for mine.

I looked down at his drink nervously. God, it smelt like nail polish remover. I was fucked.

I bravely took the smallest sip I could bare and almost _immediately _began coughing in disgust.

"What the fuck, Gray!? Is this rat poison?" I spat, thrusting his drink back into his face to get it away from me. He found my distaste pretty amusing because he started laughing, hard.

"I warned you," he reminded me, handing me back my vodka tonic.

"God, is there anything in there other than varnish?" I sputtered, drinking my vodka to wash the taste of gasoline out of my mouth.

"It's _neat_, Juvia." He explained, like that meant anything. My blank look told him enough.

We stopped walking, then. We had reached the edge of the sidewalk, and if we walked any further we'd have to cross the street. Apparently, staying within sight of the venue was in our best interest.

"I feel like kind of an asshole." I heard myself say. "Our friends are celebrating their wedding and we're casual drinking outside."

Gray laughed. "Trust me, Natsu and Lucy are far too involved with each other to notice who's present and who isn't."

"As they should be." I added. "But still. I feel like I stole you. Maybe Natsu will beat me up for monopolizing your time."

"I bet you could take him," Gray mused. I probably could, but only if I was sober. I was at a distinct disadvantage. Also, I was in heels. And beating up the groom on his own wedding day seemed to be in bad taste.

I sighed, suddenly realizing that Gray and I were stalling. How typical of us.

"I, um…" I turned to him, a sort of guilty look on my face. "I'm not really sure where to start with this."

He shrugged. "I can start, if you want."

I nodded, with only a little bit of hesitance. As much as I wished I had some direction for our little "_what are we_" discussion, I was more than happy to let him take the reigns.

"You didn't call me." He started, his lips twisting a little bit. "I...sort of thought you'd call."

Right. Good place to start. I had left our last meeting on a particular high note, one that sort of implied he'd be seeing more of me.

"I didn't…" I conceded. "But not for the reason you'd probably think."

He nodded, motioning for me to carry on. He took another sip of his drink and I had to physically restrain myself from gagging.

"I basically had to start from scratch in Crocus. The first three or four months I was there I was basically working non-stop. Then Minerva had a midlife crisis and I had to sort of...take care of that. Then I joined this weird group of people that I thought were gym rats and that turned out to be a very elaborate pyramid scheme." I summarized, tapping my finger to my chin to see if I was missing anything. God, I forgot how chatty I got when alcohol was involved. Gray seemed barely impressed by my life in Crocus.

"What I'm _saying_ is that I wanted to call you when I was...stable. And that took a while. And then I just started stalling." I explained. "Not really a good excuse, but it's kind of what happened."

He shook his head. "You're so weird. I don't know what I'm supposed to say to that."

"I know." I mumbled, sipping on my drink again. "I was counting on seeing you here, though."

"You were?" He asked, my statement finally piquing his interest. And he thought _I _was predictable.

"Duh." I said. I could've added more, but I was distracted by the fact that my feet were starting to hurt from the heels. Guess those Crocs had done a number on me. Slightly drunk Juvia thought it would be a good idea to rest my legs by sitting in the grass beside the sidewalk.

Gray looked at me, perplexed. "What are you doing?"

"My feet hurt." I explained, lazily pulling off one of my heels so I could rest my feet in the grass.

Gray must've been _just _drunk enough, because he just sighed heavily and joined me on the ground.

"If I get grass stains on this suit, you're paying for it." He grumbled, taking a drink of his whiskey. "It's your turn to talk, by the way."

"Isn't it always," I groaned. "Ummm…" I was drawing a total blank. What were we talking about again?

Ok, it was official. I had nothing to say. Or, I had everything to say, but I didn't know where to start.

I blew out some air and tried to act aloof. It didn't work.

"What do we do, Gray?" I asked, finally giving up.

Gray huffed, reading my thoughts - or lack thereof - like he always did.

"I can't believe you're making me do all the work." He complained. I only pulled at my hair nervously. It was very much like me to shoulder him with the emotional burden of our relationship.

"I'll help you," I insisted lamely. He angled his face and I saw a muscle in his jaw tic in annoyance. He drained his terrible drink in one final move before setting the glass down onto the grass with finality.

"Fine. I have...I have a _few _ideas on where we go from here." He admitted. His hand closest to me flexed nervously and I smiled shyly, hoping he would continue without asking me for more input.

Dissatisfied that I wasn't going to help him, he continued. "I don't think we can keep going the way we have. I think we're at an impasse, and we have to choose one path to go on."

I nodded in agreement. I had set down my only half finished drink a while ago, no longer interested in getting plastered. The taste of Gray's drink had sort of finished me for the night. What Gray was saying was pretty much what I'd been thinking for the past few hours. I workshopped a couple of solutions myself, most of which would involve a lot of compromise on both our behalves.

I shifted my legs to the side so my torso was angled better for me to look at Gray without fracturing my neck. He looked alarmingly calm despite the situation, his hair annoyingly well-tamed and his suit polished and unwrinkled. God, it was like his whole body was Facetuned. Stupid beautiful man.

He started staring at me, his eyelids lowered as the golden light of the sun hit his perfect cheekbones. I had an unrivaled view of his face that a camera lens would be envious of.

Oh, fuck. He was waiting for me to say something. And I was in la-la land.

"Um...I think you're right." I began, and he smiled widely, like he'd never get tired of hearing me say that. "It's not enough for me anymore."

He regarded my words carefully. Since this was Gray I was talking to, he wouldn't be satisfied until I elaborated on what I was talking about. Typical.

"I _mean_, I need something more...concrete." I surmised, tapping my hands together awkwardly. "I used to just be able to see a picture of you and I'd be ok knowing that _you're_ ok. But, you know. Lately…" I trailed off. By _lately _I meant within the last year.

Honestly, after I'd sort of bombed our relationship during college by straight-up ghosting him I never thought I'd have to worry about Gray again, hence the start of my college dating life. I thought I'd blown it for good. But at the housewarming party, everything hit me full-force. I wanted Gray back in my life, as a permanent fixture. It was like all my mushy feelings for Gray were hibernating in the lizard part of my brain until I could touch him again, and then it decided to rear its terrifying face after I got a taste of something I'd been missing for so long. Now, stalking his Instagram and scrolling through his Twitter feed wasn't enough to quench my thirst for him. I needed contact. Not even necessarily physical, just plain person-to-person contact.

You'd think with a conclusion like that I'd just woman up and _call him _like a normal human being.

The problem was, at my core, I was still a total fucking coward.

"I _knew _you were keeping tabs on me."

Gray's words interrupted me from my musings. I rolled my eyes.

"Come on Gray, obviously I was keeping tabs on you. It's what I do best." I reminded him. If he didn't know that I social-media stalked him by now, he would have to be a massive idiot. Or just totally oblivious.

"I can't believe you had the nerve to check up on my Instagram but never call me. Dick move." He remarked, a bit sarcastically. He didn't seem bitter about it, maybe a little annoyed, but not angry.

"Gray, I'm a _coward_. I feel like we've been over this before." I reprimanded. "And don't act like you weren't keeping tabs on me too!"

"I never said that!" He argued. "And you _aren't _a coward. You just do a lot of cowardly things."

I laughed then. I wasn't sure if he was trying to make me feel better, but it was working. He always made me feel like all my flaws were just tiny flecks on an otherwise spotless plate instead of gaping holes and massive blemishes. He gave me entirely too much credit.

I tried to hide my smile, which proved fruitless. He mirrored my barely contained joy.

"So," he voiced, his tone suspiciously light and airy. "I'm assuming since you came with Sting you _don't _have a secret boyfriend in Crocus at the moment."

My mouth opened in shock that he even had to ask. "Of course not! Can you imagine?"

I blanched at the thought of me setting him up tonight only to slam dunk him with the fact that I had a boyfriend that I'd been hiding from him. God.

He shrugged. "To be honest, I assumed that was the reason you never called me."

I swallowed. Oh. That was a dumbass move on my part. He wasn't exactly wrong to draw that conclusion, either. Although, there was something to be said about assumptions making an ass out of the both of us.

"God no." I reiterated. "I haven't even thought about something like that. At least, since…" I ended my sentence there, hoping he understood what I meant. Since our kiss last year, there was no way I could even think about dating anyone else until we got closure. Or something more meaningful. Depending.

"Yeah." he nodded, understanding. "Me, too."

I blinked, his admission surprised me. It was always sort of flattering when I found out that Gray and I had mutual understandings, that I affected him as he did me.

Although, I don't think he could ever fully understand just how much he affected me. That my mindscape basically revolved around him like some seriously freaky carousel with no exit.

"We're stupid," I said suddenly, and slightly drunken laughter bubbled out of me. The whole situation was funny in an ironic sort of way.

"Yup." Gray agreed, finding less humor in the situation than I did. Ugh. Forgot he was a more 'emotional-drunk'.

"So if I'm understanding this correctly...we've both been waiting for each other, for a year?" I asked, the words sounding crazy as they left my lips. Gray's shoulders tensed, and his dark eyes flickered up as if to do the mental math to see if I was accurate.

"Maybe longer," he said softly, so much so that I almost missed it. I silently agreed. Even though I had dated other guys, I was pretty sure I had been waiting for Gray in the long run.

I laughed again, the comedy factor somehow doubling. Maybe because we were both total clowns.

"What the _fuck _are we doing, then?" I asked, sitting up straight and looking Gray in the eyes. He seemed intrigued by my sudden initiative and leaned forward slightly.

The answer was obvious. The problem was that neither one of us wanted to say it.

Thank the merciful lord I was drunk.

"Let's just _date _again." I suggested. The word date seemed so ill-fitted for our relationship, but I didn't know what else to call it. We were a mess.

Gray started to smirk, evidently pleased by the fact that I had blinked first in our little game of dick measuring.

"You would've never said that sober, would you?" He asked, probably rhetorically. He was still smiling, so I knew he was probably just messing with me. But still, I felt the need to respond.

"I would've!" I exaggerated. "I might've just beat around the bush a bit more."

Damn. Drunk Juvia had ovaries of steel.

Gray smiled wider. Damn, he was cute. His attractiveness was serving to lessen my anxiety at the fact that he had yet to respond to my proposition.

"Is that what you want?" He finally inquired, his playful smile telling me all I needed to know. He agreed, but he wanted to mess with me. Dick.

"Why must everything be about what _I _want?" I complained, dipping my head back and allowing the sun's rays to graze my forehead. I was facing away from the sun, while Gray was subjected to the light quite nicely.

"Because, I already know what I want. You're the one who likes to play games." He explained rather succinctly. My head snapped upwards, the audacity of his words triggering my _fight _response.

"Hey! For the record, I've known what I wanted since freshman year of high school." I sassed. "My issue lies in _following through_. Not my greatest strength."

I was oversimplifying, as usual. Another problem of mine was my critical lack of self-esteem and my bountiful amounts of self-doubt. Those were some incredibly effective roadblocks.

"You are an expert at standing in your own way," he mused, voicing my thoughts exactly.

"That I am." I agreed, before straightening and leaning forward, invading his personal space. "Are you going to answer my proposition, or not? I'm starting to feel like an idiot over here."

Gray leaned forward, so much so that our foreheads were almost touching. His eyes grazed my chin, before dragging upwards, past my lips, my nose, and my eyes, which were dangerously half-lidded. He tilted his head painfully slowly, like he was angling to kiss me.

I didn't dare allow myself to close my eyes. Not yet, at least. There was more to discuss - and I was still 45% sure he was fucking with me.

It hit me, then. He _was _fucking with me. He was deliberately stalling so I could understand how _he _felt when I'd left him hanging for a whole year.

"Oh." I said softly, my breath hitting his jaw from our proximity.

"Yeah. Oh." He agreed happily. He didn't move back, starting up another fun game of 'who-will-blink-first' between us, like we didn't already play enough of those.

I sighed, mentally committing myself to the conversation. I might as well move past the blockade and assume he wanted to date me as much as I wanted to date him, again.

"We're going to have to figure out the distance thing." I told him. This time, he did look shocked. I smiled, because this time I was the one to catch him off guard. That was two points for me. He probably wasn't expecting me to bypass his acceptance of my proposal, considering how committed I was to making him admit things to me against his better judgment.

"Hm. About that…" He rolled his neck and looked at me with barely contained satisfaction. He paused deliberately, enjoying the fact that he had all the power at the moment.

"Oh my god, spit it out already." I demanded, scooting closer to him so he would cough up whatever it was he was hiding.

"Alvarez headquarters is in Crocus." He told me. "What if I told you I could move down there?"

His words were simple enough, but they were heavily weighted with implication. He was essentially informing me that long distance could be completely evaporated with a single move. How long had he thought about it? Moving to Crocus? Being with me?

I didn't dare flatter myself into thinking that his only purpose in transferring to Crocus would be pursuing a relationship with me - but still. He wouldn't be putting the idea on the table, here in front of me, if I wasn't a major player in the game.

"You…" I nearly choked on my own words. This was a lot of information to process. "I mean...is that what you want?" I asked. Gray's career was incredibly important to him. I would never ask him to turn his life upside down just for the sake of my clinginess.

He looked down at the grass, a tense moment passing between us. I could feel the blood rushing through my face. I probably looked like a red sour patch kid.

His eyes rose and he looked at me, gaze searing. "If you asked me to, I would."

_What_?

Was he psychotic? He was putting the decision in _my _grossly incapable hands?

Part of me wanted to swoon at the fact that he had this must trust in me after all this time. It was almost romantic.

But the logical part of my brain wanted to bash him over the head with my shoes until he gained a bit of common sense he was apparently lacking.

"I could never ask that of you!" I yelled, reaching forward to seize the collar of his dress shirt. He looked completely shell-shocked at my reaction, like he had expected me to swoon and beg him to move to Crocus.

"Juvia, what-" he tried to uncover my motivations but I continued without letting him finish.

"Are you stupid? You should know by now that I _don't care _what happens to us. I want you to be _happy_." I spoke. I realized I had been shaking him like a doll the whole time and I nervously released his collar and smoothed out the fabric, a little guiltily. "I'm not going to ask you to move to Crocus if it isn't what you really want. I can handle the distance. I'm not a kid anymore." I added, this time without the physical display.

Gray absorbed my words, a thoughtful smile on his lips. He seemed unfazed by the fact I had been shaking him and his hand reached out to cup my face. Involuntarily, I leaned into his touch, almost melting into his icy grip.

"You've changed," he breathed out, and from the pride in his tone I took that as a good thing. "And to be clear, I _wasn't _asking that of you. I just wanted to hear you say that you wanted me."

If he wasn't holding me, I would've shot him a dirty look. Just when I thought we were past our petty grievances and mind games. We were a match made in hell.

"You're so lame. Of course I want you." I followed through with my surge of confidence by landing a sloppy kiss on his cheek. He smelt a tiny bit like his bourbon, and a little bit like cologne, which he definitely hadn't been wearing earlier in the day. Had he put that on for me?

I indulged myself in the thought as his hand that was secured to my face slid down to my waist to keep me from attempting escape. I welcomed his touch, sidling next to him comfortably. He didn't protest. I thought about that fact that a year ago, me and Gray cuddling in the grass was perhaps the furthest thing from my mind, and I was more preoccupied with avoiding him like the plague. Not that I wouldn't have enjoyed it. It was just a large emotional step for both of us.

"I'm curious, though." He added, voice softer thanks to our newfound proximity. "If I told you that it didn't matter to me, staying or moving. What would you say?"

"Hmmm." I thought out loud, resting my chin on his shoulder. "Objectively...of course I want you to move to Crocus. _But _like I said. It doesn't matter where you are." I reiterated. Obviously I would prefer to have Gray within a 5 mile radius, but I would be the last person to pull him away from his career. I'd been the one to encourage him to chase his career, after all. The last thing I needed was to be labelled a hypocrite.

"That's good." He hummed, taking the time to lay his head on top of mine. The weight settled nicely, like we were always supposed to be there.

"Why?" I asked, trying to mask the accusatory tone in my voice. It wouldn't bode well if I welcomed our fledgling relationship with a wild assertion that he was plotting something. Which he obviously was. But still. I was to understand that the key to healthy relationships was a heaping dose of trust.

"I lied." He said plainly.

Oh god. This didn't seem like it was headed in my direction.

Sensing my distress, he crossed an arm over my abdomen, forming a sort of human seatbelt. He squeezed lightly, as if trying to relax me. I didn't know how to tell him that a way he could truly relax me was if he just laid on top of me like a really sexy weighted blanket. But I supposed that could wait until later that night.

"About Alzarez. They never asked me to transfer." He stated, and I could feel his arm tense for a moment before relaxing again. "They _told _me. I move down in two weeks."

I allotted my brain an extra ten seconds to buffer, processing the information he had loaned me.

What a grade-A fucking _asshole_. He was fucking with me. Again.

God, he was seriously lucky I liked him and his fucked-up brain so much.

"Shut the fuck up." I said, narrowing my eyes so I could evaluate his facial expression. As usual, his handsome face betrayed nothing. He was daring me to call his bluff, a ghost of a smile on his lips.

Ok. He wasn't _that _mean. He wouldn't make me wait this long to hear the punch line if he was messing with me. That meant that he was telling the truth.

Oh. _Oh._

I tried to contain my excitement, but it was like trying to close the lid on a Diet Coke stuffed to the brim with Mentos. My hands started slapping his chest, like I had no control over my appendages.

"You're moving to the _city_?" I choked, before covering my mouth excitedly. "And you waited until _now _to tell me?"

He was grinning now, like my excitement was contagious. "I wanted to tell you when I knew there was reason to celebrate."

I tipped my head back and laughed, suddenly grateful I hadn't drank any more, which would've dulled the moment. My hands shot forward and looped around his neck, pulling him into what was less of a hug and more of a full body glomp.

He returned my hug with earnest, one hand tangled in the back of my hair and the other across my back. I felt his chest rise and fall rhythmically, a sense of relief encompassing us. God. It felt like a weight I'd been carrying my whole life had been removed, and now I was left with a lighter conscience and a sexy new boyfriend. Or...old boyfriend?

Also, Gray was deliberately vague on whether or not he wanted to be my boyfriend. I was going out on a dangerous limb to assume he wanted to be with me, but judging by the way he was holding me, my assumptions had a vast foundation to fall back on.

Gray pulled back, only an inch, so he could adjust his grip from my hair to my chin. I felt my breath hitch in surprise when he leaned forward and kissed me, almost aggressively. I used one of my hands to steady myself against his neck, and I could feel his pulse bounding beneath my hand. I met his kiss a little too eagerly, one sliding into the next, my mouth slanted for easier access. I felt the mood shift when he pulled away with a harsh _pop_ and began assaulting my neck with light kisses. _Whoa_. I needed to get a hold of the situation before I made some terribly adult decisions. On the grass. In public.

"We should - uh," I was cut off when Gray moved to kiss me, swallowing the words I was trying to speak. His teeth grabbed my bottom lip lightly and he pulled back slightly, taking my lip with him. Oh, fuck. He was _not _making this easy for me. Dick.

"Gray," I repeated, "our friends just got _married_."

"I don't feel bad," his voice was husky, and disinterested. He moved to kiss me again but I stopped him by grabbing his chin.

"You _should_." I reminded him. "You're a groomsman. You should be drying Natsu's tears of happiness."

"Believe me, Natsu would be ecstatic if he heard what we were doing right now." He assured me. "Now, stop moving and let me kiss you properly."

"Gray!" I felt my face heat. "You talk about me to Natsu?"

He rolled his eyes. My hand still held his chin to keep him from distracting me with his mouth. I had things to focus on. Kind of.

"You're such a baby. You talk about _me _to Sting! And Gajeel. And Erza. God, why do you have so many confidants?" Gray wondered aloud. "And why do you confide in everyone _but _me?"

"I do not!" I argued. "And if you really feel that way, I know a very effective remedy."

"And what's that?" He asked me, leaning his head into my hand to make it harder for me to keep him on a leash.

"A very long night of trauma dumping and venting." I informed him cheerfully. "You'll be fully caught up on all the seasons of my life that you missed in no time."

"I'm holding you to that." He expressed. "I spent a lot of time missing you. I think it'll take a while for me to get caught up again."

I hummed in agreement. "We've wasted a lot of time, haven't we?"

"Mmm. No use dwelling on the past." Gray inputted. He resisted my grip on his chin for a moment but I relented.

"We should really go back to the reception." I suggested. Not because I wanted to end our little moment, but because the long islands and vodka had caught up to me and now I had to pee.

Gray looked miffed that I even encouraged the idea. I gave him a look that told him I wasn't kidding.

"Ugh. You're boring." He finally gave in. I took that as an affirmative sign to release his chin, taking him off probation.

I was wrong. He dipped his head in to kiss me, quickly, but effectively. But I was a sucker, so I kissed him back.

He smiled. "Fine. Let's go."

I grinned and stood up, a bit wobbly, before balancing myself and shaking the grass off of my dress. Gray followed my lead, retrieving our discarded drink glasses and my shoes that I had removed. He handed me my shoes and I took them gratefully.

We walked back slowly, and I swung my shoes, which I was still holding, back and forth as we moved. I probably should've put them back on, but I figured I'd spare my poor feet the torture until we actually got back to the venue.

"Ugh. I probably have to give a toast to Natsu and Lucy." Gray muttered, swirling the melted ice in what used to be my vodka soda.

"Try to sound a little more enthusiastic, your best friend is married." I reminded him.

"I _am _enthusiastic. About other things." He reminded me. I begged to differ. From an outsider perspective, Gray looked deceivingly neutral. He was a master of emotional disguise. Luckily I could speak fluent Gray Fullbuster, and the beauty was in the details. It could be seen in his slightly raised eyebrows, the relaxation of his shoulder muscles, which seemed to always be tensed.

"You seriously need to work on your acting skills." I advised. We arrived in front of the venue and I bent down to put my shoes back on. Gray waited patiently as I fumbled with the straps, still a tiny bit intoxicated.

"Do you need help down there?" He drawled, amused by my lack of hand-eye coordination.

"No! I can do it." I yelled, finishing up the last strap proudly. "See?"

"Incredible." He muttered, handing me my glass so he could free up one of his hands.

We walked inside, sound bursting forth from the main room. We had missed a good chunk of the reception. Suddenly, I felt quite guilty. This was Lucy's day, I should've been showering her with attention instead of getting drunk and flirting with Gray. Not that I'd take back what happened. I'd just be a little more conscious of my surroundings.

The reception hall was filled with amiable people, drinking and talking. It didn't look like any official proceedings had happened, although to be honest I wasn't all that familiar with basic wedding traditions. It was my understanding that the receptions were more laid back, maybe filled with a couple toasts here and there, but was mainly used for casual celebration.

Ugh. I needed to find my friends. Leaving Sting alone at a large gathering for long periods of time was a recipe for disaster.

"I need to find Sting." I told Gray, who seemed like he was heading towards the bar.

Gray rolled his eyes. "Must you always make me jealous with him?"

I blanched, remembering Sting saying something similar about Gray earlier in the night.

"You know full well there's nothing to be jealous of." I reminded him. I was right about him heading to the bar, because we stopped there quickly to drop off our empty glasses we had been nursing all night. Gray didn't order another drink, and I decided to do the same.

"I have to pee. Can you go find Sting and...make sure he doesn't ruin this momentous occasion?" I requested. Gray solemnly nodded, knowing that I wasn't being sarcastic about him ruining things. Sting had a miraculous ability to have almost zero knowledge of his surroundings.

We split apart so I could empty my vodka-filled bladder. On my way to the bathroom, I realized how few people I actually recognized. Served me right for basically dropping off the face of the earth during college. I was just lucky that I had gotten my shit together after I graduated.

I finished going to the bathroom, narrowly avoiding conversation with a bunch of ex-sorority girls gossiping about the manner the wedding went down. It turned out most people had come up with a few of their own unique theories as to why the ceremony was postponed, with the bride returning covered in grime.

The theories were all incorrect, of course. But I didn't feel like explaining the story to a bunch of people I didn't know. Besides, I think Natsu and Lucy would enjoy the air of mystery that surrounded their wedding, like a tall tale that just gets more harrowed as it's passed from person to person.

I returned from the bathroom to the venue hall, looking for Sting and Gray. Nothing was on fire, or demolished, so that was a pretty good sign. I spotted Erza and Jellal at the table where I had set my purse at. Hopefully they weren't pissed about me dipping, yet again.

_Oh, shit. There they are._

My eyes zeroed in on Sting and Gray, the former of which having a very heated discussion with the DJ stationed in the back corner of the venue. The dance floor was empty, because the music wasn't scheduled to start until later. Gray had his arm on Sting's, clearly trying to diffuse whatever conflict was occurring.

I hurried over, sensing something terrible was going to happen if I didn't interfere. Once I was within earshot, I could hear Sting and the DJ's exchange.

"What do you _mean _you don't take requests, homophobic piece of shit! All I want is one, simple-"

"Sting, it's not that deep." I heard Gray intercept. Bad idea on his part. Telling Sting something was "_not that deep_" or "_not worth arguing over_" were the two worst ways to get him to blow his fuse, because if there was one thing Sting _loved _more than anything, it was blowing things out of proportion.

"Listen here Fullbuster, let me tell you _one thing_-"

"Sting," I interrupted, grabbing the arm that Gray wasn't holding. "What's going on?"

Sting looked relieved, like I'd understand his plight. "This _asshole _says he won't play Tame Impala tonight. Can you believe that shit?"

I resisted the urge to reach forward and strangle him. He was throwing a tantrum because of fucking _Tame Impala_?

"Sting. It's a _wedding_. The song selection is chosen by Natsu and Lucy." I explained to him slowly.

Sting looked at me blankly. "They let straight people make the playlist?"

"I know. It's a travesty." I sympathized, squeezing his arm a little bit. "We should get back to our table now."

Sting pouted, before nodding. I looked over at Gray, who also nodded and released his grip on Sting's other arm.

"God, Juvia, your hair's all fucked up." Sting commented, straightening his purple tie that matched my dress. A look of bewilderment crossed his face before he started doing the mental math, his suspicious gaze flicking from Gray, back to me.

"_Waaaaaiiit, a minute-_"

I slapped my hand over Sting's mouth, throwing myself in front of him as a makeshift roadblock. Sting retaliated by opening his jaw and licking a long, slimy trail up my hand.

"Ew! Sting, what the hell?" I yelled, desperately rubbing my hand on his suit jacket to remove the saliva.

"You dirty slut!" He gasped. "Were you and him just-"

This time, Gray stepped in. "Watch it." He warned, the two words holding more gravitas than any threat I could've come up with. Sting's jaw clamped shut.

"Sting, it's not a big deal." I said slowly, smoothing out my hair subconsciously while trying to talk my friend off the metaphorical bridge. "Gray and I - we have an...understanding." I explained lamely.

"That's a funny way of putting it." Gray muttered, displeased by my choice of words. Guess I needed to make a revision.

"Fine. We're dating." I turned to Gray, and then Sting, a manic smile on my face. "Happy now? Both of you?"

Gray's look of satisfaction said more than words could. Sting looked astonished, his blue eyes so wide they quirked the criss-cross scar above his right eye.

"Since when?" He sputtered, tone edging somewhere between euphoria and horror.

"Since, like…" I glanced down at my wrist, pretending I was wearing a watch. "An hour ago? Maybe less?"

Gray nodded softly, confirming my words. Sting let out a choking sound.

"I - dammit! I owe Jellal money now. Thanks for nothing, Juvia." Sting grumbled.

I blanched, offended that a self-proclaimed 'good person' like Jellal would stoop so low as to trifle with Sting. "God, would you stop placing bets on my love life?"

"Only when your love life stops being so tumultuous." Sting promised. "Anyway, how'd you do it, Juvia? You witness him committing a crime so now he's trapped in a relationship with you?"

I rolled my eyes. "You need to stay off Wattpad, Sting."

Sting pursed his lips, as though the very idea horrified him.

"Just _go back _to the table. I'll meet you there in a sec." I told him, pushing him towards the back of the room fruitlessly. He begrudgingly followed my shove and ambled off to the table, probably to shamefully give Jellal the money he owed him.

Gray shifted to my side, and I turned to see what had caused him to move.

"Gray, where the hell have you been?" Natsu asked, strolling up to us like he wasn't the groom himself. He was chewing on what looked like a Red Vine, and I could still see hints of what looked like soot on the edges of his jaw and neck.

Gray shrugged. "I had some stuff to take care of."

Natsu looked at him quizzically, and then down at me. Curse these men and their distinct height advantage.

"Anyway," Natsu spoke, his eyes still on me, "just wanted to check and see that you got my _special playlist _to the DJ? We're gonna do first dance in a few minutes."

Gray sighed, like it physically pained him to respond. "Yes. I took care of it."

"Great!" Natsu celebrated, smacking his open palm on Gray's back so hard I could hear the reverberation rattle his ribs. On instinct, my hand shot to his shoulder to steady him.

Natsu greedily devoured the sight with his eyes, and I could feel Gray's groan before he even made a sound.

"Oooh, Juvia...I should've known not to lay a hand on your man." Natsu taunted playfully. I knew he was baiting me, waiting for me to either rage at him or agree. What Natsu didn't know was that technically _I _had knowledge that he didn't.

"You should've." I said simply, smoothing out the handprint on the back of Gray's jacket.

Just as I predicted, Natsu looked perplexed. Before he could comment on my response, Lucy appeared behind him.

"God, Natsu, would you move already? We have a first dance to attend." She spoke. Natsu turned to look at her, a beaming look on his face. Lucy looked adorable, no longer dirt-covered and also pleasantly casual looking, with her short white cocktail dress and kitten heels.

"Yes _darling_," Natsu responded, grossly emphasizing the pet name and hooking his arm into hers.

Lucy stopped short, her soft brown eyes zeroing in on me. Almost immediately, she released Natsu's arm and surged forward to hug me.

"Juvia! Where have you been? I've been looking for you all night!" She exclaimed, squeezing my shoulders affectionately.

"Probably the same place Gray has been." Natsu mumbled, looking somewhat pissed that Lucy had ditched him for me.

"Don't be bitter Natsu." Lucy chided. "Let them be. Besides, you should be thanking them for finding me in a ditch."

It was good to know Lucy had a sense of humor about her own wedding disaster. Natsu looked less pleased, but, ever the doormat, complied.

"Fine. Thank you Juvia for rescuing my hot wife." He told me stubbornly. "And I already thanked Gray in alcohol before the reception."

Gray nodded curtly, not even a little bit of shame in his dark eyes.

Lucy turned back to me and smiled. "Walk me to the dance floor?" She held her arm out and flexed her fingers like she was itching to hold my hand. I could hear Natsu huff in jealousy, still upset that I was commandeering his wife. I took Lucy's hand and we started to weave through the groups of people to the dance floor, Natsu and Gray following behind us closely.

"So," Lucy turned to me, a wicked gleam in her eyes. "How long have you two been..._seeing _each other?" She whispered lowly. I grimaced. God damn it. It'd barely been over an hour since Gray and I had made it official and already people were catching on. Were we really this transparent?

"Not long," I replied, to which she let out a tiny sound of satisfaction, squeezing my hand.

"Oh, I _knew _it! You were basically straddling him in the car earlier." Lucy noted. "And Gray! He never said anything before the reception! Why is that boy so damned secretive…"

I _could _tell Lucy we technically only got back together during her wedding reception, but I felt that it would be best to pull the focus back to her. She was the fucking bride, after all.

"You can chew him out later," I reminded her. "Do you have a good song picked out for the first dance?"

Lucy grinned. "Oh yeah. Miss Whitney Houston is gonna be taking over for us. Natsu had some objections, but I won out in the end. As always."

I smiled back. We had made it to the dance floor, and the rest of the wedding guests must've realized what was happening, because they all began to gather around to watch Natsu and Lucy have their first dance as husband and wife.

Fuck me. Thank god I wore waterproof mascara.

Natsu swooped in from behind us and practically scooped Lucy up and away from me so he could dance with her, and also no longer have to share her with the adoring public. Lucy turned back and winked at me before the DJ started the music.

As the first few beats of Whitney Houston's _I Have Nothing _flooded through the venue, I felt a strange feeling course through me. I felt like I was the mother of the bride and was watching my daughter get sent away to somebody else. And coming from someone who had once adamantly tried to keep Natsu _away _from Lucy, the feeling seemed pretty undeserved.

Lucy was beautiful. She was literally glowing, like someone had real-life photoshopped a halo over her head. She looked so happy.

"What the hell are you doing?" I heard Gray whisper. He was standing next to me. Huh. I didn't even see him get there. My eyes were burning like crazy, and when I turned to look up at him, he looked petrified by my facial expression.

"Shut up," I whispered back, trying to pay attention to Natsu and Lucy. "I'm gonna cry."

"What? Don't do that." Gray responded, looking at me like the idea of crying was totally ludicrous.

_Ugh. I hate men._

"I can't help it, you idiot!" I whispered furiously, tilting my head up so gravity could assist me in keeping the tears in my body. I could _not _cry right now. When I started crying, I could not stop for at least 20 minutes. And it wasn't cute, single-teardrop-running-down-my-face kind of crying, it was full-on _sobbing_. Embarrassing, red-faced bawling that would draw spectators from all around.

Gray was still looking at me with concern, like he had no idea what to do with me.

"Help me!" I demanded. I knew Gray probably didn't have the facilities to make me stop crying, but watching him struggle was cheering me up a little bit.

"Damn! Ok." He responded, still whispering as his hand reached forward to grab me and shove my face against his chest. He held me there for a moment or two, allowing me to regain my self-control and just let the velvety voice of Whitney Houston soothe me. Damn, Lucy had good taste.

"Wanna know something?" Gray asked me, and from his tone I could tell he was trying to cheer me up. I nodded into his chest lamely, and I felt a small laugh rumble against my cheek.

"Natsu and Lucy couldn't decide on a first dance song." He began softly, tracing circles in my hair. "Lucy made him agree on Whitney, but Natsu wasn't really satisfied. So…"

I pulled my head away from Gray, decently intrigued. My wave of sadness/happiness had passed as quickly as it had appeared, and was replaced by curiosity.

Gray smiled, and looked out at Natsu and Lucy, who were finishing their first dance to the final beats of the song.

"Let's just say there's gonna be two first dances." He told me.

_What?_

I gazed out at Natsu and Lucy as the song finished. Natsu touched his forehead to Lucy's in what I would've considered disgusting move if it wasn't a wedding. Before the happy couple could even celebrate their first dance and listen to the wedding party clapping for them, another song started playing.

The opening bars of the song washed over me and I stared at Gray in total shock.

"Is that-" my words were clipped as i watched a shocked smile appeared on Lucy's face, and she began to laugh as Natsu held her. "Is this _Camp Rock_?"

Gray smiled. "_Camp Rock 2, _actually."

Oh my god. Of _course _Natsu would choose a song from a Disney Channel original movie to dance to at his wedding, with his incredible wife who had memorized the choreography to almost every dance in High School Musical. It was grossly fitting.

People watching the couple seemed confused, and I suspected that quite a few of them didn't recognize the song as _Wouldn't Change a Thing_, as performed by Demi Lovato and Joe Jonas. They also looked confused as to whether or not they were supposed to join the bride and groom on the dance floor, or let them continue embarrassing themselves.

When Natsu started lip-syncing, I pretty much lost it. Natsu and Lucy were perfect for each other. Lucy had tried to accost me into singing Camp Rock songs with her in high school at least a billion times. And now she had someone who was ballsy enough to play it at their wedding reception.

I felt the mood of the room physically lift. As the song continued, people joined Natsu and Lucy on the dance floor, starting with family and then followed by close friends.

I felt Gray's hand squeeze mine lightly. "You wanna dance?"

"Oh, god." I replied, the words slipping out before I could stop them.

"Ouch." Gray responded flatly. He acted like he was going to walk away, and I seized the back of his suit jacket to stop him.

"Don't be dramatic." I reminded him. "I'm just trying to remember a time where I've danced with you that hasn't ended in me embarrassing myself."

Gray grinned, pleased by my response. "Ha-ha. Yeah."

I punched his shoulder lightly. "Douche! You're supposed to disagree with me and tell me I'm perfect."

Gray pretended to grimace. "Oops, sorry. I've been your not-boyfriend for so many years I forgot I have to support you unconditionally."

"Best not forget it again." I added cheekily. "Let's dance, Fullbuster."

He looked remarkably brightened by my proposition and pretty much hauled me to the dance floor. He held me lazily by the waist, his arms draped, and I moved to ensnare his neck with my arms. I relaxed my weight into him, not really caring that I was forcing him to take the lead and sort of sway me like I was nothing more than dead weight.

"Fuck, you're heavy." He grunted after I leaned back and forced him to hold me upright. My gaze snapped up at him, enraged.

"I _mean_, have you lost weight?" He asked sheepishly. I pinched the back of his neck lightly with my hand.

"That's more like it." I said, leaning forward and resting my head on his shoulder.

There was something very surreal about the whole situation. This all seemed way too simple. Too easy. A calm before a storm and all that crap. Familiar faces passed us, but all I was thinking about was us, being together, right then and there. It felt right, obviously. To finally be caught in Gray's gravity rather than circling him aimlessly like a lovesick moon.

"I think I remember the last time we danced together." I said suddenly, lifting my head from his shoulder and staring up at him mischievously. His dark eyes found mine and seemed to question my motivations in speaking.

"Prom?" He asked, slightly unsure of himself. I grimaced.

"Ugh. Don't remind me of prom, I was a total mess." I relented, electing to ignore that prom was where Gray and I had our first kiss. Kind of. It was a weird situation.

"And _no_. It was in August, in Lisanna's backyard at the end of that one party where Natsu almost drowned in 2 inches of standing water." I recalled. Gray nodded, the memory washing over him fondly.

"Oh yeah. Whoever let Natsu drink an entire bottle of Pink Amsterdam needs serious mental help." He added. I nodded in agreement, my gaze flickering to Natsu and Lucy on the dance floor, completely absorbed in each other's presence. He was in good hands, now.

"Yup. It was a good night because for once _you _were embarrassing yourself, not me." I spoke cheerfully. Gray's grip tightened a bit on my waist, muscles flexing.

"I recall that night differently than you." He replied stoically.

"Uh-huh. You cried." I reminded him.

He looked measurably embarrassed, but he wasn't going to flat-out deny it. "I...was emotional, yes."

I laughed. "You said you missed your girlfriend and that I looked just like her."

"I don't remember that part." He admitted.

"Well it happened. Jellal had to help me carry you to my car." I remembered fondly. Gray so rarely got shitfaced it was an incredible night to watch him completely lose it thanks to an entire bottle of tequila. The fact that Gray, master of the neutral face expression, was a totally over-emotional drunk made the night 10 times better.

"Why did I wake up in your bathtub?" He inquired, like the memory was coming back to him in bits and pieces.

"Mmm. You wanted to take a shower, and you got your shirt off before you just passed out in the tub. You were too heavy for me to carry you out without seriously injuring you, so…" I surmised.

"God damn." He mumbled. "What the hell were we doing?"

I resisted replying simply with _each other_ and just settled by laying my head on Gray's shoulder again, watching people pass us by.

I saw Erza and Jellal dancing out of the corner of my eye, and lifted my head slightly to get a better view. Jellal caught my gaze, and upon seeing who my dance partner was, immediately made some fucked up facial expressions. Ass. Sting had probably told him all about his little revelation regarding the status of Gray and I's relationship.

Erza turned to look at me, too, a knowing smile on her lips. Goddamn her. I could feel my face turning red, suddenly aware that I had draped myself over Gray like a blanket.

I wondered what they were thinking. Maybe something along the lines of "_about time_" or maybe even "_damn this bitch moves fast_."

"Do you think we're moving too fast?" I said aloud. Gray didn't stop moving, but considered my words.

"Nah." He responded lightly. "I think we're just making up for lost time."

I hummed into his shoulder in agreement. We turned slowly so I could survey the rest of the wedding attendees better. I could see Levy and Gajeel dancing together, and my _god _Gajeel's back must've hurt from bending over to reach Levy's height like that. Lisanna and her siblings were talking with a couple other faces I recognized from high school. Sting was chatting up...Lyon, terrifyingly enough. That was a combination I could go my whole life without seeing.

"Gray?" I asked, pulling back and hanging onto his neck like a lifeline.

"Juvia." He responded dryly, before smiling.

"I missed you." I announced, leaning forward and kissing his cheek. I held there for a moment, trying to leave a lipstick mark to keep the sorority girls from sniffing around him.

"You won't have to any more." He replied genuinely. Ugh. How dare he remind me that I was about to get Gray Fullbuster within a 5 mile radius? The very thought made me simmer with joy.

"What if you get sick of me?" I asked, only slightly overdramatic. It was a genuine question of mine. My insecurities, as much as I'd conquered them, always felt the need to crawl up to the surface and show their ugly faces.

He laughed, and I could feel it up against my chest. Comforting.

"Juvia, if I'm not sick of you now, I don't think it's going to happen anytime soon." He told me, a hand coming up to hold my cheek affectionately.

"You're so romantic." I commented sarcastically.

He hummed and leaned down to kiss me softly. It was chaste, and almost shy, probably since we were surrounded by people. He started to pull away, but I dragged him back for one more. Damn. I was getting courageous. Or maybe it was the leftover vodka….

A thought crossed my mind. In the spirit of our honesty that night, i decided to voice it.

"We should've gotten together last year." I spoke, feeling incredibly stupid for not saying it earlier. Gray half-smiled, like not enough time had passed to make it fully funny.

"It's _your _fault that we didn't." He reminded me.

I scoffed, still in a little bit of denial. I was the one who kissed him last year, after all. I deserved some credit for that.

"Well, you know what they say about hindsight." I sighed, leaning into him again. If I had the option, I'd never leave the comfort of his arms.

"What do they say about hindsight?" He asked rhetorically. I answered him anyway.

"It's, you know. Pretty good." I said. He laughed, squeezing me closer. I looked up at him, a ridiculously happy smile on my face. I couldn't believe the night was ending like this. Never in a million years had I imagined Gray and I would be standing here, together. It was legitimately too good to be true.

"Yes, that's exactly what they say." He agreed, pressing another kiss to my forehead.

I looked up at him, probably a dumb look of total bliss on my face. We'd wasted so much time. I couldn't wait to actually start our life together, no more delays, no more interruptions.

Yeah. I wasn't going to let him go anytime soon.

* * *

**yeah still not super happy with the ending but. we're gonna call it a day anyways! thank you all for sticking with me on this one. kind of a passion project for me.**

**this is a weird posting time for me. i just got back from cadaver lab and i smell like formaldehyde but GOD FORBID i didnt finish this story before february. that was my goal and i made it. **

**i feel like i have a ton to say but ill just leave it at this - i hope i get to write more soon. its been pretty good for me i think, even though its been a long time. idk. we'll see how everything goes this semester. thank u all so so much for reading my dumb writing and tolerating my annoying style. much love. xoxo kt**


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